The Hidden
by MEL1916
Summary: You've heard the story of the Avatar time and time again but have you heard of us? The ones that are cut from history? The ones that protect the Avatar as they learn the four elements? The ones that are rumored to bend the shadows to conceal themselves? We are the ones born to be outcasts but sometimes that changes. It changed for me when I met a certain group of people.
1. Prologue

**I do not own any of these characters, except Ignacia (Ig-nay-sha) and Alec, the rest belong to Nickelodeon. **

I slumped the few bags I had onto Rin's back, tying them on tight with a thick rope. I turned back and leaned against the beast, my mind sending me back in time to remind me why I was leaving.

(Three years previous)

I leaned back against the trunk of the tree with my eyes closed, the sound of turtle ducks just ahead of me. I'm alone for the time being, unlike the others in this palace, I had no business to attend to. Instead, I was waiting for Iroh to return from his meeting, he had promised to talk to me about my future. I took a deep breath and listened, a small breeze swept through the elegant garden, rustling the leaves above my head. Despite the pleasant day I felt like something was off, the world seemed to be holding its breath. Something stirred in me, like a serious case of the butterflies. I opened an eye at the sound of voices. All too high pitch to belong to Iroh. It was Azula and her friends, just what I needed in my time of peace. The voices came to a sudden hush as I heard the group pause a few meters to my left, only a single pair of feet advancing towards me.

"Azula," I muttered.

"Ignacia," she said as if each letter pricked her tongue.

"Can I help you with something?" I said. I knew the fact that I could speak so informally to her, without consequence, irked her. I was no servant, no peasant but I wasn't a noble or a royal. I was in some half way point, a half-breed I had been called on several occasions.

"Care to have some fun with us?" She offered with a sly smile. The way she said 'fun' led me to believe otherwise, this was the daughter who could do no wrong. I wondered what it was like, to get what you wanted just so you would be out of the way, soon learning to control and manipulate. I grunted and considered my options. What harm could she do me that I could not pay back in full?

"Depends. What's your definition of 'fun'?" I questioned. Her smile dropped into an angry glare at my words. She wasn't offering, she was ordering. Who was I to deny her orders?

"I see," I said. I smile played at the corner of my lips, "And if I refuse?"

"Mai," she said as she turned to her friend with long black hair, "Have you seen Alec around lately?"

I gritted my teeth, my smirk replaced with a glare of my own. I knew what she was saying. Either give up my position or my best friend would have some 'fun' with the girls.

"Fine," I spat, "What do you want-"

I was cut off by the sound of my name being called. I smiled ruefully at Azula who gave me a hard look in return and made my way towards Iroh's voice. My smile softened as I approached the man. I climbed the stone steps to where he stood and faltered, his brow was creased and his lips were pressed into a thin line.

"Iroh-"

"Don't forget your titles," he whispered hoarsely.

"Uncle Iroh," I corrected myself, "What happened? What's wrong?"

"Your..." He paused as he remembered I hated being reminded of my relation to the royal family. He took a deep breath before continuing, "Zuko has been challenged to an Agni Kai by one of the generals as he forgot his place and disrespected him. He's challenged not the general though..." He trailed off, the line in his brow deepening.

I understood, he had indirectly challenged his father, the Fire Lord. I knew our conversation would have to wait, right now Zuko needed help, some advice, but I wasn't sure we had time. Agni Kais typically were held at noon, it was late morning now, just a quarter hour or so away from noon. I looked at my uncle with concern, he worried about my half-brother just as much as he worried about me. I did feel some sympathy for Zuko, he was only four months older than me and was in a hurry to grow up and take his, excuse me, _our_ father's place as Fire Lord. I knew Iroh hoped Zuko would see the pointlessness of the war but I knew that was just a hope. Zuko was the type that would do anything to please his family but more specifically, the Fire Lord himself. I shook my head sadly.

"He isn't going to leave unscathed," I observed as we walked to the arena where the duel was going to be held. I didn't have to glance at Iroh to know he shook his head. We entered the arena and walked slowly to a section that was cut off from the rest, the seats here being a little more… well, royal. We took our seats, Azula followed us and sat next to Iroh. Word of the duel must have spread like a wildfire because, as I watched, hundreds of people began to fill up the ring that surrounded the flat platform below. Two perfect squares seemed to be cut out of the arena where the fighters would be risen up from below. I waited anxiously, I knew this wasn't going to end well, yet I stayed, as if glued to my seat.

I wished my thoughts to drift away and take me somewhere far away, but they stayed on the same subject: How bad was this going to be? Why would people come to watch such a cruel game? I had seen several Agni Kais some more brutal than others but nothing would compare to the savagery of a man fighting his own son. I thought this as if the Fire Lord had already won, but that's because he had. Iroh knew it, Azula knew it, and the whole palace knew Zuko would give into his father.

A wave of silence washed over the crowd, gently bringing me out of my thoughts. We watched as the two platforms were raised from the ground, completing the arena like it was some sort of puzzle. The Fire Lord was on one knee, his back to his son. I looked over and saw a frail Zuko on the other side, the Fire Nation insignia draped over him like a cape. There was a sounding of a gong and both father and son stood to face each other. Zuko glared at his opponent for all but a second before his stance relaxed and his arms dropped to his side.

_It's already over, _I thought to myself.

"Father?" Zuko said in a small voice.

"Get in your stance! Fight me Zuko!" Ozai barked at him.

"No, no! I'm sorry! Please forgive me! I don't want to fight-"

"You will fight me Zuko! Fight for you honor!"

Zuko shook his head. He approached Ozai slowly, kneeling in front of him, still blubbering apologies and asking for forgiveness. Though I could only see the back of Ozai I imagined his jaw clenching and his eyes burn with anger as he brought his hand back, summoning his fire. I watched in slow motion as he brought it forward, willing the flames to shoot from his hand. I looked away. I heard a scream and knew very well who it belonged to, and then I heard a laugh. I knew who this belonged to as well. With my head turned I saw Azula sitting at the edge of her seat, a wide smile plastered on her face. I gritted my teeth as this memory burned into my mind, a reminder that I would never call this demon my half-sister, Zuko was an exception to this rule but not her. I wondered what kind of sick human being would laugh at their own brother's pain and realized this was not a family, this was something broken and bent. It was like a shattered mirror with its pieces gathered together and dumped into some attic, the gold paint left to peel, the metal meant to rust.

I glanced down at the arena below us and saw Zuko on his knees, his hands overlapping each other as he clutched the left side of his face. I stood from my seat and made my way past the row we were trapped in, Iroh following right behind me. As soon as we made it through we escalated our quick pace into a run, taking a flight of stairs by the entrance to the bottom. As we made our way to the arena we met Ozai who stopped us.

"Iroh," he said.

I rolled my eyes and moved past him, he didn't even so much as glance at me. I ran onto the arena and kneeled down next to Zuko. I put a hand on his shoulder.

"Zuko," I murmured. His good eye blinked through the tears and looked at me. I searched his eyes for anything but all I saw was the hurt and shame in them. I put an arm around him and helped him to his feet.

"Where's Uncle?" He managed through a choked voice.

"Talking but he's probably waiting for us now," I said softly.

He didn't even so much as nod as we made our way to Iroh who had a sad look in his eyes. He opened his arms and I gently guided Zuko into them, following behind them as they walked to the doctor who stood at the top of the stairs waiting for them. I followed them all the way to the infirmary, growing steadily angry that no one came to help him. This was how they treated a boy who was more than just physically injured? They watched him walk with his head down in shame, stumbling from time to time because he had little vision between a damaged eye and the other blurred with tears. Despite his injury he let little show of his agony.

When we finally arrived at the infirmary Iroh pushed Zuko inside but gave me a look, warning me to stay outside before entering himself. I didn't have to be told twice. I wandered back to the garden, choosing a long way that took me through the maze of halls within the palace. They hardly needed security, no one who managed to break into the palace could possibly make their way through the halls, you would eventually go mad if you weren't caught first. I sighed and walked slowly, wondering why I had the life I did, why I was related to such a dysfunctional family. I wondered what life would be like if my mother still lived, if I was still with her. I had her tan skin, her sea green eyes, and, according to Iroh, I had her level head. I wish I had known her but she had died shortly after giving birth. I wondered, if she had such a level head, why she had fallen for my father.

Iroh had told me once that Ozai had met my mother while on a disguised trip into the city to get some fresh air. He had seen my mother at a market and something about her had drawn him towards her and vise versa. My mother had come to the Fire Nation to seek refuge from the violence she had observed so many times in the cities of the Earth Nation which she had left for to get away from the small village of the Southern Water Tribe. My mother sent a letter to Iroh, explaining that she was sick and wouldn't make it after my birth. She wanted Iroh to take me in and raise me. He had taken pity on me and my situation and had taken me in. Now here I was, trapped in this sick family by no fault of my own. I stopped in my tracks and looked at a piece of my black hair, one of two traits I had inherited from Ozai, and sighed.

Ozai, the man who would grimace at me if we ever came to cross each other's paths, like I was a smudge on his mirror that wouldn't come off no matter how hard one the servants tried to erase it. If only he knew what my fate was, then he would be a lot more interested in me. He knew almost nothing about me except my name, he didn't even know of the second trait he had passed on to me: fire bending. As far as I knew, only Iroh knew about it as he was my teacher. Everyone else thought I was a nonbender that worked with swords. It was always good to be underestimated though. I smirked, letting go of my strand of hair, and finally taking a left into the garden again. I leaned against the tree and closed my eyes again, Alec would probably be making his way here now. He knew where to find me when I wasn't training with Iroh or roaming the city with no one's permission.

Just as I predicted, the boy with dark brown hair, gold eyes, and a halfway un-tucked shirt came running my way. He stopped at the tree and leaned against it, our shoulders almost touching. Alec didn't say anything at first, he was probably just as upset as I was about the events of the day. He was one of the closest people Zuko had to call a friend and yet had found himself unable to help as the duel had commenced.

"What happens now?" I asked.

"I don't know. Probably not much, just more drama and division," he said.

"Yeah, hopefully," my voice was hollow.

"I wouldn't worry about it. I would worry about you sixteenth birthday though."

"You think Ozai would give me enough attention to marry me off? You give him too much credit," I joked.

"Ignacia, any chance he has to get rid of you he will. If he could hurt his own son like that then I have no doubt he'll have no problem getting rid of you."

"Why are you so concerned about it anyway?" I snapped. I wanted him to stop. I had two years to think up a plan and escape this prison.

"Because Iroh and I are the only ones you have," he snapped back.

I looked at the ground. He was right, I couldn't deny that.

"I'll figure something out," I half said to myself.

"Like what?"

"Iroh and I were supposed to talk about my future today. He knows I can't stay here forever, I don't belong. I'm like the black koala sheep."

"Yeah you are."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome. I meant it in a good way, you're different."

I looked at him curiously, wondering what to say. He looked back at me with a lopsided smile, he tugged on a piece of my hair and rolled away before I could smack him.

"Gotta be faster than that!"

"Oh please, catching you is child's play."

"Oh really? Prove it!"

I smiled and jumped to my feet, my eyes locked on him. He waited, dodging right but I saw his head turn a second before and lunged for him. We fell to the ground laughing, until a shadow fell over us. We stopped and looked up to see Ozai towering above. We scrambled to our feet, bowing respectfully, at least Alec did before getting on one knee with his head down. I gave him a curt bow and took my time getting to one knee, bowing my head but keeping my gaze to the side.

"Stand, boy," he commanded.

"Follow me," he ordered after Alec got to his feet once again.

I washed them go, my eyes following Alec who dared to cast a glance back at me, his lopsided smile substituting for a goodbye. I smiled back and waited till they were out of sight. I considered following but thought better of it, ease dropping on Ozai would be a death wish. I looked at the sun in the sky, it still burned enough for me to squeeze in some sword practice. I headed towards my room to change out of my formal clothes and into something more practical for sword practice.

(Later)

I stood on my balcony overlooking the city, the crescent moon high above me. I hadn't seen Zuko or Iroh since the afternoon, even Alec was missing. I breeze swept past me, sending a shiver through me and chilling my wet hair. I folded my arms across my chest and continued to stare out. I thought about what today was supposed to be about, then I thought about what had actually happened. Could Zuko's outburst in the meeting mess with my future? My fate? I knew it affected his more than mine though, he would be permanently marked for his foolish mistake, one that could have been easily let go with a warning. Another thing about this society was their rash nature, their pride never allowing them to be wrong. I shivered again, as the last breeze finally sent me inside to wrap myself up in the silk sheets. I hoped the coming days would be more productive, for everyone's sake.

I couldn't have been more wrong. I was given a wakeup call by some of the servants and served an early breakfast.

"What's this all about?" I asked one of them.

"We were told to wake you up, you have a busy day today."

"Who told you to get me up?"

"The Fire Lord."

Of course. I sighed and ate my food slowly, wasting as much time as I could. I pushed the red sheets off of me and stood, sinking my feet into the plush red carpet. I stretched and walked towards my closet. I took my time picking out another formal outfit that was almost similar to the servants except it was better quality. I hated it, I hated dresses more specifically but what else could I wear that wouldn't get me sent back to my room to change? Nothing. Stretching one more time, I finally opened my door and headed for the Fire Lord's throne room. The rest of the day I spent delivering message after message between generals. The next day went the same way, as did the next and the following day. I would have asked at least one of the generals what was going on if the image of Zuko on his knees clutching his face hadn't been a reoccurring thought. By the end of the fourth day I just collapsed into my bed. I wasn't exhausted, I was bored. I wanted to know where Iroh was, where Alec was, and even where Zuko was.

I let out a deep breath and crawled under the silk sheets again, my mind fading into a dream.

Water. Freezing water. I was completely submerged in it, my body freezing from the shock of it. I tried to keep clawing my way to the surface but my arms slowed with each passing second until they didn't move anymore. I held my breath, not knowing why exactly, I was just prolonging my death. My lungs began to burn, they cramped, until finally I gave in and gasped. Water filled my mouth and froze my lunges. I tried to tell my arms to swim again but they refused to budge. I took one last gulp of icy water-

_WWWWWWWWWHHHHHHHHHHEEEEEEEEE RRRRRRRRRRPPPPPPPPPPP!_

I sat straight up in my bed, I gasped for air and half expected it to taste like salt water. I was breathing heavy, the sound of each mouthful of air breaking the silence. Well, for now it was. Something had ripped me from my dream, the sound of a ship's horn. I ripped the sheets off my body and walked out to the balcony. I looked out and saw a war ship that hadn't been there earlier. I eyed it for a few minutes, confused. War ships never came to port unless they were delivering a navel general to an important and unexpected meeting that absolutely required their presence. Yeah, that had only happened once.

"You're still up," Iroh's voice said behind me.

I turned around and hugged him, hearing him chuckle and return the hug.

"I need to talk to you but I don't have much time. Come inside," he said softly.

I followed him and sat cross legged on the bed while he took a seat across from me. There was a thousand things I wanted to ask him but I knew better than to waste the few precious minutes that I had with him. I hadn't noticed at first but he held a bundle wrapped tightly in his arms. He sighed.

"Ignacia, this may be the last time I see you for some time. I'm leaving with Zuko. He's been banished and the only way to return is with the Avatar. I must go with him, to guide and teach him while he's gone. Your friend, Alec, he is going as well, to keep Zuko company. These are not my orders, believe me, I would have done things completely different but I am not the Fire Lord. Listen, I have arranged for you teachers to teach you what I have taught you over the years. I made a promise to your mother and I intend to keep it. I also have a gift," he said.

He stood and handed me the bundle, it was some oval shaped object wrapped in a thick cloth. It was surprisingly warm, I wanted to unwrap it now but there was something else I needed to do first.

"Thank you, Uncle, for everything," I said before hugging him again. I felt my cheeks get hot and my eyes beginning to water. He hugged me back.

"You're welcome, and thank you for taking the time to listen to an old badger mole like myself," he said in a sad voice.

"One more thing. Can you tell Alec I said I'd miss him? And Zuko I said good luck?"

"Yes, of course," he said, "just remember to visit us when you can."

Though unwilling, I unhooked my arms from around the man who raised me and looked at him curiously.

"Patience, my child, patience," he said.

With one last goodbye, he was gone. I looked back at the bundle on the bed. I summoned a white flame to my hand and used my free one to remove the cloth. I looked down at was unveiled. It looked like a piece of obsidian carved into a smooth egg shape and then had tribal swirls and points carved into it. I put my hand on it, feeling the warmth emanate from it. I knew what it was, or what I supposed it was with my vast imagination as a thirteen year old. It was a dragon egg.

(End of flashback)

I remembered the hatching of the egg and the teachers who had guided me and protected me. They had known who I was and had ushered me on to find the Avatar, to protect the Avatar. The Due Dao swords I had forged and worked with rested heavy on my back, like the pressure of finding the Avatar had embodied itself into them. I looked one last time around the garden I had grown so found of before I turned my back to it and mounted my dragon. Rin's black scales glistened in the moonlight, making it feel as if I myself where flying as we took off. I tightly wrapped my black cloak around me and leaned back. I watched the stars fly by slowly and the land below whisk past us in random streams of light. There wasn't much steering to the area we were going, it was just down, all the way to the South Pole. I knew Zuko must be heading back from the Western Air Temple after finding nothing there or in the Earth Nation villages he had visited. Of course I was just assuming this would be anybodies first places to check, I just hoped it was Zuko's too.

**Well? What do you think so far? Let me know! For now, here's some lyrics I feel represent the flashback. Oh, and a special thank you to LunaAzul829 for helping me edit this story! Go check oout her awesome Disney Fan Fic!**

_I'm so fed up with everyone around me  
No one seems to care  
I'm just so far gone and nothing's gonna change  
I'll never be the same  
It's always do this, do that, everything they want to  
I don't wanna live that way (No!)  
Every chance they get they're always pushing me away_

_It's never enough, no it's never enough_  
_No matter what I say_  
_It's never enough, no it's never enough_  
_I'll never be what you want me to be_

_It's all so messed up and no one ever listens_  
_Everyone's deranged_  
_I'm just so messed up and I'm never gonna change_  
_I wanna lay it all to waste_  
_They're always say this, say that, nothing that you want to_  
_I don't wanna live that way (No!)_  
_Every chance they get they're always shoving me aside_

_It's never enough, no it's never enough_  
_No matter what I say_  
_It's never enough, no it's never enough_  
_I'll never be what you want me to be_  
_I'M DONE!_

_In the end we're all just chalk lines on the concrete_  
_Drawn only to be washed away_  
_For the time that I've been given_  
_I am what I am_

_I'd rather hate you for everything you are_  
_Than ever love you for something you are not_  
_I'd rather you hate me for everything I am_  
_Than have you love me for something that I can't_

_It's never enough, it's never enough_  
_No matter what I say_  
_It's never enough, no it's never enough_  
_No matter who I try to be_  
_It's never enough, no it's never enough_  
_No matter how I try to change_  
_It's never enough, never never enough_  
_I'll never be what you want me to be_


	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters except Ignacia, Alec, and Rin, the rest belong to Nickelodeon.**

As we flew I wondered how they had all changed over the years, not just physically but their personalities. What had traveling the earth, searching for a myth, done to them? I know that since they had left me with no one but Azula for company, my humor had been sucked dry, my temper had been cut in half and I had little want for company. I sighed and looked to the horizon, guessing we still had an hour or two before dawn. Once dawn came I would eat and get some sleep, traveling by dragon wasn't exactly discreet.

(Time Skip!)

I squinted into the far distance, nothing but ocean spread across before me. I turned to Rin and gave him a worried look. Despite his lizardish appearance his blood temperature far surpassed humans and he would survive the South Pole but I wasn't sure about the distance we had to cross. I had never tested his stamina but then again, both my mentors had assured me that Rin could make it any distance. I bit my lower lip. I sure hoped they were right. I took my place between Rin's first two spikes and we took off again. It had taken us two days to cross the Fire Nation, but that was only travelling at night. Now we had the whole sea to ourselves, with the hope that no war ships were to cross paths with us. I had taken care in sneaking into the room where the generals held meetings and studied their map, making sure we didn't come too close to any ships on our way. I smiled to myself at the thought of Iroh and Alec again, though I did wonder about Zuko. The hurt he carried deep inside wasn't something that was just brushed away. It drives itself deep into your heart, making each beat more painful than the last. A hurt like that can destroy a man from the inside out.

(More Time Skip!)

The good news: there were several large pieces of ice that we could rest on during the day when it was warmest and Rin had lasted a week flying without stopping before we made to the ice.

The bad news: We had been traveling for three weeks since leaving the Fire Nation with no sign of the solid land that held the Southern Water Tribe and between Rin and I, we had little to no food left.

I cursed myself as I broke the last cracker in half. I threw one half ahead of me, Rin opening and snapping his mouth shut. I carefully nibbled on my half, not wanting to waste it. It was gone within a minute. I looked around and saw iceberg after iceberg, the same thing since we started. I looked below us and saw the water reflect the black smudge that was Rin and the red smudge that was me. I closed my eyes, humming a song just for a change of pace. The sound of the wind against my ears and the steady rhythm of Rin's wings was close enough to silence that it was driving me insane. A few hours went by, my eyes still closed, another song coming to my mind and soon to my lips when suddenly Rin pulled up from his lazy glide above the water, a large ship coming at us.

I clutched onto the spike in front of me to keep from falling into the freezing water. I looked down for a moment and recognized the steel Fire Nation ship. I felt like my heart had just leapt into my throat. Rin gained some altitude and then spiraled down. He refrained from landing directly on the ship and instead latched onto the back. He rested his head so it was level with the ship's main platform, allowing me to climb up and board the ship. I warmed my hand and grazed it over my black pants and red shirt lined with gold to melt the frozen sea spray. I grabbed my thick cloak and wrapped it over me again, despite feeling no chill from the air. I walked around to the front of the ship and looked over the hull. _They must have terrible security if they hadn't found me yet, _I thought to myself. I stood there for another few minutes, feeling the breeze brush against my cheeks before two pairs of hand grabbed my arms. I smirked, _About time._

They led me inside and took me up a flight of stairs, neither of them removing my hood that I had put up since boarding. I let them lead me up to where Iroh was playing a tile game and Zuko was staring at a map, his brow furrowed.

"Sir, we found someone aboard the ship," one of the masked men said. Both men looked up at the sound of an intruder. I chuckled.

"Long time no see, eh?"

Iroh smiled, "Ignacia, it's good to see you! Come join me," he offered.

"Thought you'd never ask," I replied. The men didn't loosen their grip though. I looked at one of them from the side of my eye, they didn't budge.

"Uncle-" I began when I was cut off.

"What are you doing here? How did you get here?" A voice snapped at me.

I looked over at Zuko who had his piercing glare locked on to me. I was taken aback at first but remembered that three years can change a person.

"I came to pay a long since overdue visit," I answered. It wasn't good enough though.

"Answer both of my questions," he ordered. He 'ordered'. Zuko had never ordered me around, he had been one of the few who had seen me as an equal.

"That's a foolish question. There's only one way to travel in the middle of an ocean," I said, my voice turning sour.

"If I were to send my men out to find your boat they would find it? It's hard to believe you could survive the night in a simple bout out here," he challenged.

My eyes narrowed. I was beginning to dislike this Zuko.

"Are you challenging my word? Why would I lie? I never have before," I began in a sharp tone.

"If you have nothing to hide then why are you so worried about a simple look at your boat?"

"I didn't have to visit," I said.

"You didn't. It doesn't matter, you came for Uncle."

"I came to see the only pieces of my family that ever accepted me," I said in a lower tone.

Before Zuko could say anything else Iroh intervened.

"Prince Zuko, do not challenge your sister's word, she has broken many rules to see us. The least we can do is take her in for a short time."

"To see you. You will take her in. I have nothing to do with it," Zuko spat before pushing past me and leaving. The men released me on Iroh's command and were dismissed. I sighed and sat down with him at his small table with tiles laid out on it. I recognized one piece in particular, the lotus flower. I picked it up and examined it, several memories coming to mind.

"You came to visit, not to stare at tiles or am I mistaken?" Iroh spoke up.

"Sorry, I just..." I put the tile down and cleared my throat.

"I understand. Now, where do we start? How about my gift? I'm sure it proved useful on your way?"

"Yes, it did. Just as when you gave it to me it has kept its black color."

"What about its eye color?" He asked completely dropping our guarded and semi-coded conversation.

"His eyes are like liquid silver, I've named him Rin," I said.

Iroh's eyes seemed to sparkle. He nodded.

"How about your lessons?"

"I learned enough that my mentors allowed me to come and join you here."

"Good, good."

"What's up with Zuko? I know people change but he's never treated me like that before."

"Yes, well, the past is something you can't erase. His banishment took a toll on him and now he believes the only way to restore his honor is to find the Avatar."

"Restore his honor? When was it ever lost? Or does he believe Ozai is so powerful he can take it away? He needs to look past his injured heart and anger."

"This is something he has to do himself I'm afraid. No amount of talking will get past him."

"I suppose. Uncle, you told me to visit but now that I'm here what do you want me to do?"

"What do I want you to do? You are old enough to make your own choices, stay with us or go on your way, it doesn't matter. As you are a Shadow Bender you must search for the Avatar yourself."

Shadow Bender... No one besides my mentors had ever called me that. The term had been coined for hundreds of years, since the ones who were born to protect the Avatar had no official name and they had been rumored to bend the shadows around them. Was it true? I had never tried before. I stretched and weighed my two options.

"I'll stay for a few weeks," I answered after a moment.

"I look forward to seeing you more often, though I won't be the only one."

I stared at Iroh, confused. Who else would possibly welcome me? My eyes widened.

"Alec? Where is he?" I asked quickly, getting to my feet and waiting for an answer.

"I was wondering when the subject would come up," he said with a chuckle.

"The crew has probably taken a break for lunch. Go down the stairs, take a right, then a left. Second door on your right."

I gave him a hug, thanked him and ran down the steps. Listening to the instructions, I burst into a room with a steel table and men lined on the side, eating and laughing. They paused and quieted at my appearance, wondering what I was doing. I scanned them until I found a man with brown hair cut short, gold eyes, and a gaping mouth. I took that as a sign of speechless recognition. I pulled my hood down and hugged him. I felt his arms wrap around me and hold me just as tight.

"Ignacia?" He asked.

"Alec," I confirmed.

His arms tightened and he laughed.

"What took you so long, huh?"

"Oh please, it isn't that hard to catch you, I took my time."

"Clearly."

We released each other and shared a laugh.

"Hey Alec, you never told us you had a lady!" One of the men said.

"Yeah!" Another joined in.

I felt my face get warm. Alec had never been more than a friend, a really close one at that.

"We're not together. Sorry to disappoint you guys," Alec said.

"Maybe I came at a bad time," I whispered.

"No, you're fine," he whispered back. Then he said louder, "You guys know I couldn't get that close to a royal anyway."

"A royal?" The men and I said in unison.

"Yeah, this Ignacia. You know, the Fire Lord's mixed kid?"

Many of them nodded and some averted eye contact. I manage a poor attempt at a smile before shooting a glare at Alec, knowing it didn't go unnoticed.

"Can we talk somewhere else?" I asked.

"Oh, yeah. Of course," he responded. He grabbed his plate and led me out the door I had just burst through. I closed it on our way out and continued to follow him until we came to a lone door at the end of the hall. Upon opening it I discovered it led to the back of the ship. I held my breath and hoped Alec didn't see the claws dug into the edge.

"Sit," he said.

We sat down and filled each other in on what had been happening since the departure of Zuko's ship. Apparently Zuko had changed seemingly overnight. He became cold and would barely welcome Alec's company. After a time he ordered Alec to go work with the crew, that's exactly what he had been doing for three years now, shoveling coal into the fire powered engine. The fire benders aboard would shoot a handful of fire in and the process would repeat. Looking Alec over I did realize he had become much more muscled, something told me it wasn't just from him maturing. I gave him a short summary of what I had been doing over the years, leaving out certain details here and there. He smiled in between bites of food as we talked, I wondered if he enjoyed my company as much as I enjoyed his.

"So, when are you going to tell me about your firebending?" He asked.

I just stared at him, my mouth slightly parted. I began to say something but the words fumbled before I could get them out, turning into just a bunch of jumbled half sentences that made no sense.

Alec laughed, "Just hold on a minute, you don't have to cover it up. You have the same fiery passion and stubbornness of every firebender I've ever met, it wasn't hard to put it together."

"When did you put it together exactly?"

"A few months after we left," he said. "I was thinking about you and how much better it would be with your sarcasm and crude jokes," he teased.

"Ah, but you were still thinking about me," I teased back.

"And you didn't think about me?"

"Good point. Anyway, yeah, firebending isn't exactly something I like to talk about."

"I noticed. I'm not sure anyone knew."

"Iroh knew and the mentors who took over his teachings when you all left. Now you do, and if tell anyone-"

"Yeah, yeah, you'll kick my ass. I get it. I just want to know why you kept it hidden."

"Because, I'm... My... My bending is different. I'm different."

"You've always been different, that's why I spent so much time with you. You're real."

"It's more than that Alec. I was never meant to stay in the palace, I was never meant to stay in any one place for very long. Not until my job is done," I said.

"What? Ignacia, what are you talking about? What job?"

I stood up and leaned against the rail, I looked down at Rin and sighed. If Alec came to talk to me and saw Rin I would tell him everything. If he didn't I would tell him it was nothing, that I was just being over dramatic. I heard Alec's footsteps come closer.

"Ignacia-"

He stopped. I looked over and saw him staring at Rin. It was decided.

"Oh, this is Rin. I can't exactly bring him aboard without every firebender trying to kill him," I explained.

I watched his movements carefully. He looked at me and nodded, as if this didn't surprise him. I smirked, he shook his head.

"You always have something up your sleeve, don't you?"

"Yeah. Here's another: I'm the Shadow Bender."

Alec's smile faltered.

"What?"

"Yeah, crazy huh?"

I told him my story and how everything had happened. When I finished he was silent for a moment. He focused on the rail for what seemed to be the longest minute in the world to me.

"Every Shadow Bender has the insignia of the nation they represent, right?"

"Yeah, it's always the nation or more exact, the element before the Avatar's original nation or element. In other words, yes, I have the Fire Nation insignia on my wrist," I answered.

The insignia resembled a tattoo but it had been on my skin since the day I was born. I had always wore a black metal bracelet over it though. The metal was flexible enough that I could pry it from my wrist if need be. I looked down at it and spun it around my wrist a few times. Only the sound of the wake kept us from complete silence.

"How long before you leave to conduct your own search for the Avatar?"

"A few weeks. I don't doubt he's somewhere in this frozen wasteland though."

"Why's that?"

"I had a dream the night you guys left. Dreams aren't always dreams thanks to the spirits though."

"You think it was a vision?"

"Yeah, I do."

We faded into silence again. Before we could change the subject a steam whistle blew from above.

"I have to go. Listen, after work I want to talk to you again."

"Where at?"

"Here is fine," he said before giving me a quick hug, grabbing his plate from the ground and disappearing inside. I sighed, off he went again. I was left with nothing to do, again. I looked down at Rin, unsure what to do with him. He couldn't just stay there all night, he had to have somewhere to go. I reached my hand down to meet his head, he brought it up so it gently pushed into my palm. I patted him twice and moved away quickly. He snorted and tore away from me in return, taking to a low glide for a few meters until he flapped his large black wings and disappeared. I wrapped my fingers around a charm on my neck. It was a silver dragon but was so much more than just that. It was a whistle, by blowing through its tail a high pitch noise would sound, letting Rin know I needed him. I don't know how he could hear it sometimes but he always came.

I blinked and broke my gaze with the sky, turning back and going to the front of the hull. I regretted the decision almost immediately as I turned the corner and saw Zuko practicing his fire bending. I strode confidently to Iroh's side, he was watching Zuko, his brow furrowed and his arms folded in his sleeves. I stood next to him, watching Zuko practice one move over and over. His anger built as he failed to complete it each time. It only made his movements stiffer and more powerful instead of the smooth, graceful method it was suppose to be. Iroh seemed to notice this too as he ordered Zuko to stop.

"What? What is it this time?" he snarled.

"Relax, move quickly but loosen up. Take a deep breath," he suggested.

"No! I'm sick of you telling me wrong, that I need to relax. I'm done."

He stormed past Iroh, his hand on the door handle.

"Zuko," I said calmly.

He turned his glare on me, his frustration nothing but pure anger now.

"What?" he snapped.

"He's right, firebending when you're angry will get you know where. It won't sharpen your skills, it will only fuel your anger, creating a giant mess," I told him.

"What do you know about firebending?" he challenged.

"More than you would guess."

He turned and left, slamming the door as if we didn't already understand he was angry. I shook my head and turned to Iroh.

"Why is he still learning like that? Using anger to form fire instead of the original way?"

"Because it is the only way he can learn. You told him the truth just a moment ago, I'm afraid you can tell a grieving man nothing."

"A grieving man?"

"Yes, he grieves for his honor. He grieves for his mother, his father's acceptance, he grieves for the life he once had. Grief has a strange hold on people, it sucks them dry, leaving nothing but a shell of a person. They become a shadow of their former self, held together by the threads of memories. Their heart is poisoned by self-pity and regret, becoming black and shriveled. It takes something, or someone, stronger than their will to return from their blackened world. I can only hope the day will come soon when he realizes no one but him can decide his fate," he said sadly.

"He's been searching for the Avatar, convinced that will make everything better? Can't he see Ozai has no use for him, holds no love for anyone but himself?"

"Hold your tongue, Ignacia, do not forget this is my brother that you speak of. He holds no love for himself, he holds every ounce of love for power. It intoxicates him and has changed him. Things were different once upon a time, but no matter. Let's change the subject. I would like to see some of your fire bending."

"What if someone sees?"

"Zuko sends the guards away when he firebends," he assured.

I sighed and stepped forward, summoning white hot flames to my hands. The flames radiating heat from my palms held no color but burned bright white, only the tips flickering to yellow. Despite having coined the name Shadow Bender, everything we bended became white. The Shadow Bender from Roku's time had bended pure white rock. The one before that, a waterbender, had bended pure white water, it had looked similar to milk but it was water through and through. There was a squeak of the door as it opened, I quickly extinguished the flames and turned to see Zuko walking slowly towards Iroh.

"Teach me again, I'm calm," he said.

I tuned out the rest of what was said as the ship pressed through a space between two large icebergs, sorta like a canyon. I'm sure after weeks of this the crew cared nothing for this but it was a whole new experience. To be truthful, I was jealous of Zuko to some degree. I wished I had been banished from that hellish palace, I had wished that every day I had spent there. I had wanted to travel the world like he had, and especially with someone like Iroh. I sighed and glanced at the men, Iroh going through the move slowly then repeating it more quickly, explaining why it needed to be one motion. Zuko watched carefully, all his focus transfixed on Iroh's movements. I'm sure Zuko felt quite differently about his banishment, I'm sure we'd both be willing to take each other's place. I glanced back at them when something caught my eye, it wasn't a mistake made by Zuko as he tried again, it was something past them.

"Uncle," I called, "What's that?"

I was pointing to a single blue beam that erupted from somewhere in the distance, stretching into the endless sky.

"The Avatar," Zuko whispered.

I looked at him curiously, unsure how he could draw a conclusion like that, or even if was a conclusion, it seemed more like optimism getting the best of him. I didn't doubt him though, I felt something stir inside of me, a memory of a nightmare. Cold water suffocating me… It was that moment I realized that Zuko and I were going to become bitter rivals, both fighting for the Avatar, one to protect him, the other to capture him. I continued to stand there as Zuko began shouting orders at his men. Something else stirred inside me, sadness. I knew I wasn't going to be seeing Alec like I promised, I wasn't going to be able to spend much time with Iroh either. Iroh stood with me, looking where the light had been just seconds ago.

"To think I would be able to spend at least a whole day with you," I said shaking my head.

"Funny how the spirits always seem to be against us for our best interests," he said in agreement.

Soon Zuko joined us, his muscles stiff with anticipation and, thankfully, had heard nothing of our conversation.

"Where do you think the shadow Bender is?" I asked him.

"The Shadow Bender?"

"Yes, the Avatar is supposed to be an airbender, so the Shadow Bender should be a firebender."

"Dead, locked up somewhere, maybe just living as a normal citizen in the Fire Nation I suppose," he answered with a shrug.

"Good news for you I suppose," I responded.

"Yes, I guess it would be."

We faded back into silence and speeded into an obstacle course of icebergs. I felt my heart beat began to rise as we neared the general location of where the light had been, I was so close to severing the last tie I held with the royal family. Zuko walked forward, to a telescope located to the left. He looked through it, trying to find any sign of the Avatar. He must have found something mildly interesting as he didn't move away.

"There's an old war ship over there, stuck in the ice," he said.

I looked over his way and tried to follow his gaze but only saw a large landscape of ice in the distance. A large black blot in the midst of it. The ship slowed as we came to the end of our course. I was about to ask where we were going to go next only to be cut off by a fireball in the distance. It was a flare from the old ship Zuko had mentioned, triggered by whom though? The Fire Nation hadn't attacked the Southern Water Tribe in several years.

"I see the Avatar," Zuko said, "He seems rather limber for his old age."

I cocked my head to the side but said nothing.

"There's a Water Tribe member with him," he added.

He pulled away and began to shout orders again, our next destination was the Southern Water Tribe.


	3. Chapter 2

**To prevent any confusion I thought I might add that when you refer to past Shadow Benders you don't call them Shadow Benders, they're referred to as the Hidden when plural. Disclaimer: I do not own any of these character except Ignacia (Ig-nay-sha), Alec, and Rin, the rest belong to Nickelodeon. **

It was mid-afternoon when we reached the Southern Water Tribe. It was a surprisingly busy village considering there was nothing but women and a handful of children. I wished I could have seen it without Fire Nation soldiers tearing it apart. I stood by and watched as they pulled everyone from their tents and igloos to form a small group in front of Zuko. Oh, I had nearly forgotten about the poor attempt to stop us. As soon as the ship came to a stop and we made our way out, a man charged at us, screaming like he was mad. Zuko had quickly disarmed him and thrown him to the side, after that the soldiers began their search. Staring at the group I saw nothing but the innocent villagers shaking not from the cold they lived in but with fear. I couldn't look at them, this wasn't what I had thought it would be like. Being locked up in the palace I had never thought about the fear the other Nations felt for us. I wish I had known sooner.

"Where's the Avatar?" Zuko shouted at them. They flinched and shrank away from him.

Zuko's patience either never existed or was severely lacking, either way he grabbed an old woman from the group and point at her, flames dancing from his hand.

"He should look roughly this age, master of the four elements!"

My hood was up, hiding my face from them, my shame concealed in a shadow.

"Zuko, leave her alone," I said quietly.

He turned towards me, his eyes burning with the same flames as his hand. He shoved the woman back into the small group of villagers, his mouth parting as if to yell at me.

"Leave them alone!" A voice shouted.

Zuko and I turned to the voice and saw a boy around the age of twelve or thirteen standing on the village's ice wall. He was dressed in yellow and orange with a staff in his hand, he was bald with blue arrows tattooed on his head and hands. He jumped down, coming down light and gracefully before approaching us.

"I'm the one you want, just leave them out of this," he said.

A young girl with brown hair held back somewhat with a braid, a strand on each side brought back in a loop fashion reached out a hand as if to stop him but kept quiet. She instead joined the rest of her tribe.

"You're the Avatar?" Zuko questioned.

I rolled my eyes, _No, people just dress up like airbenders for fun now and get tattoos like that. Nope this is completely normal._

"Who are you?" The Avatar asked.

The circled each other, Zuko ready to firebend, the Avater pointing his staff at his opponent. I watched carefully, not sure what to do.

"Zuko. That's all you need to know. Now come with me or else," he responded, he looked past the Avatar at the villagers. His soldiers got into their stances, ready for Zuko's command. The Avatar glanced at them, his stance slowly relaxing, his head bowed.

"Fine, just leave them alone."

I glanced at him, then the group of villagers, this was happening too quickly. He was just going to give in? No compromising or easily taking down the soldiers? He was the Avatar, someone to be feared and looked up to. I felt my anger build, I wasn't sure who to be mad at, Zuko for being so cliché and greedy or the Avatar for giving in when he was the last hope the world had for peace. I gritted my teeth, speaking up might save him or hurt the village. It was better to keep silent until tonight when I could break him out and keep anyone from getting hurt. These thoughts didn't subside my anger though, I felt like punching Zuko in the face and slapping the Avatar. The world was screwed because of them. At least, it seemed that way for now. I clenched my fists and glared at them.

Two soldiers approached the Avatar and bound him, Zuko taking his staff and admiring it, his greedy smile growing wider. He had his honor back, a present for his father and nothing to keep the Fire Nation from conquering the Four Nations. Yippee. They led him back to the ship, Zuko leading and me bringing up the rear. Then, just like that, we were on our way back to the Fire Nation. I went up on deck and stared at the sky, pulling my hood down to bring my hair back in an untraditional braid. I knew the Avatar appeared young but in theory, he should be over one hundred years old. Either he aged well or he had been frozen in time, I mean quite literally frozen. These were the only two theories that made any sense.

_Enough theories, _I though, _I should find him and let him know he at least has a friend._ I opened the door that lead inside and headed towards the cells, only to find two unconscious guards. I cursed and ran through the halls, looking for any open doors, I found one: Zuko's room. I poked my head in and was almost run over by the Avatar. I opened my mouth to let him know I was on his side only to be blasted back by a gust of wind.

"Sorry!" He shouted. I watched Zuko run after him, not even glancing my way. I jumped to my feet and ran after the both of them.

Our chase ended on the deck, the Avatar surrounded by firebenders. He glanced over the edge of the boat, clearly considering jumping off. Before much else could happen the men shouted and began a retreat. I heard a strange noise that sounded like a grunt from a large beast. I pulled my hood up as the Avatar past his glance over me and looked up. There was a thud as a giant… Bison? Yes, a bison, landed on the ship. This was all putting a major hole in my plan if not completely destroying it. The bison was cream colored with a brown arrow on his head and others down all six of his legs, the last down his flat tail. He bellowed at us as the young man who tried to attack us and the Water Tribe girl jumped down from its back. The Avatar ran to join them, taking his airbending stance. The man got into a fighting stance with his weapon and the girl got into a waterbending stance.

Then all hell broke loose. The men charged at them, or what few was left, fire burning hot in their hands. I didn't move, I watched as they fought, the Avatar doing a majority of the work, blasting the men away with wind. The girl made an attempt to freeze the men but ended up shooting it backwards, freezing the Water Tribe man and a few soldiers. Zuko went for the Avatar, shooting fire balls and blasting him with a series of flames. They needed to escape on the Avatar's, uh, flying bison thing. That much I knew. I ran forward stopping next the Water Tribe girl, who glared at me, and turned to face the soldiers. One lunged at the girl, I grabbed his arm, lifted it up and punched him in his now exposed side. He stumbled back into another man, giving me enough time to turn to the Water Tribe man. I summoned a white hot flame and shot it at the ice, shattering it. They both stared at me confused.

"Go!" I shouted at them. I turned to Zuko and shot another flame from my hand. He stopped his attack on the Avatar momentarily to deflect my shot. He looked at me in shock before a new found anger took form. A blast of air knocked him down as the Avatar ran to join his friends.

"C'mon Aang!" the girl shouted.

The Avatar, or Aang, used a boost of air to jump onto the bison's head, grab hold of what looked like reigns and said three strange words:

"Appa! Yip yip!"

The bison leaped into the air using his tail to bend the air and fly. Zuko shouted for Iroh, he joined him as they made a giant fire ball, launching it at the fleeing Avatar. Aang jumped to the back and used his staff to propel the fireball into an iceberg, sending tons of snow and ice cascading down to the ship. _Oh shit, _I thought as we stared at the snow/ice mixture coming down on us. I ran to the far side, next to Zuko who glared at me. The snow/ice covered half the ship, leaving Zuko, Iroh, and I in the clear. Zuko's hand erupted into flames as he swung at me.

"You let him go!" He screamed at me.

"Who are you?! What side are you on?!" He continued as he shot hands full of fire at me. I did my best to dodge, letting my anger begin to pour out of me.

"Who am I?! I could ask the same thing of you! What happened to you?! Your sense of moral?! Threatening to kill innocent villagers?!"

Zuko lunged at me, I side stepped.

"He was my only chance of returning my honor! My only chance of returning home!"

"What?! Taking away the only hope the world has just so you can return to your dysfunctional family that sees you as nothing more than weak, pathetic boy just because you feel?! That's what you want?!"

Zuko blasted me with a stream of fire. I redirected it into the pile of snow as it came at me.

"You know nothing about what I want!"

"Yeah?! I bet you want your mother back, you want to believe your family isn't as screwed up as it is! You want a family that loves each other instead of one that feeds off the weakness of one another!"

All the while Iroh was yelling at us to stop in the background. His cries went unheard, his pleas drowned out with the sound of our own angry voices. Until finally he saw his voice would go hoarse long before we stopped. He brought his own strong blast of fire between us, his voice now angrier than ours.

"STOP!"

We did just that, but our eyes were still locked onto each others.

"Enough! This will go nowhere. Fighting proves nothing but your own incompetence to understand," he said firmly.

"Want to understand something Zuko?" I interrupted, "I'm the Shadow Bender, and I was born to fight people like you. Out of all the people in our family I always thought it would be you who would accept me, the one who would help me if I needed it. I can't believe how wrong I was," I spat.

Before they could respond, I brought my whistle to my lips and blew. Rin swooped down from the sky, landing on the boat only long enough for me to mount before he launched back into the sky. I heard an angry yell from below, it wasn't words, just a release of pent up anger. Now, only one thing was on my mind: find the Avatar. Rin kept up his quick pace while I searched the sky for a flying bison, they had a head start but I'm sure they slowed down once they were out of reach of the ship. Now, the sun was dipping into the horizon turning the sky and ocean gold. After a few minutes I spotted a speck in the distance, Rin dipped his wing in their direction. I watched them for a few hours, making sure they didn't change direction while my mind considered other matters.

Zuko had changed for sure, but not for the best. Iroh had remained roughly the same just saddened by his nephew's decline. Alec had changed physically, though inside he seemed like the same person. I wonder what would have happened if Aang had remained captured, hadn't tried anything crazy. I probably would be breaking him out of his cell and taking him and Alec with me to who knows where, just somewhere safe. Another thing bugged me: Aang had only been using airbending while fighting. He was only twelve or thirteen, there was no way he had mastered all four elements. There was a lot of work to be done, first started with gaining his trust despite my origins, if that was even necessary, I wasn't sure if he knew about the war. He might now that Zuko had tried to take him prisoner, I think that's a pretty good eye opener. Maybe one the Tribes people with him had explained it to him. I closed my eyes and leaned against the spike behind me, pulling my hood up again to block some of the cold wind and fell asleep.

The next morning started out simple enough until I realized how hungry I was. I hadn't eaten anything but half a cracker since yesterday. I sighed and looked at the flying bison ahead of us, Appa, I think Aang called him. No doubt they had seen us following them by now, Rin had slowed to a lazy glide since we had spotted them. Now, as I looked, we were approaching an air temple, the Southern Air Temple. It only took us a few minutes to land next the bison, the saddle empty. _Great, a surprise attack, _I thought to myself. I wasn't wrong, I was yanked from my spot on Rin, arms wrapped around me like they were trying to squeeze me to death. I didn't fight, I just stood there with a bored as Rin reared up and roared at them, Appa responded with his own bellow. They stared at each other, both growling. Aang's staff came into my vision as he pointed it at me, the Water Tribe girl in her waterbending stance next to him.

"Why can't you just leave us alone?" Aang asked, his voice tense.

"Because you need my help," I answered.

"We don't need your help, we're fine on our own," the girl spat.

I cocked my head to the side, "Who are you?"

"Who are you?" said the man holding me back. I felt him hold me tighter as he moved one hand to pull my hood down. I stomped on his foot and broke from his hold, stepping back from the group.

"I'm not here to fight. I'm here to help as I said before. My name is Ignacia. I was the one who helped you escape from Zuko's ship," I said.

"I remember you, you were the one who broke Sokka out of the ice and sidetracked Zuko so Aang could get away," the girl said.

"Yeah, you're that firebender!" Sokka shouted, tightening his grip on his club.

"I know firebenders don't have a good reputation in your tribe, I'm sorry about that. I just wanted to let you know I'm on your side, I'm here to help the Avatar."

"Katara, Sokka, I think she's telling the truth," Aang said half lowering his staff.

"Aang, she's a firebender! From the Fire Nation! The one that's engulfed the world in war!" Sokka shouted.

"What? You just assume that's what the whole Fire Nation wants? Control? No, not everyone. Some wish things would return to how they were, some of us wish they would give up on the foolhardy dream of conquering the earth," I spat.

Katara relaxed a little bit, even her eyes softened a bit.

"You aren't like the other, are you? I saw you speak up for my Gran Gran when Zuko pulled her from the group," she said.

"No, I'm not like the others. No matter where I went in that Nation I never fit in. My ideals, my beliefs, they were all different. It can't be changed though, I was born to be an outcast. That's something the Hidden have to accept," I said more softly.

"You're a Shadow Bender?" Aang said, his eyes wide.

"That's why you need my help, because you're bound to need it eventually," I answered.

"Prove it," Sokka said skeptically.

I took my bracelet off and showed them the insignia of the Fire Nation, then formed a white flame to my hand.

"Good enough?" I asked.

"Fine, but if you pull anything," he started.

"I get it," I interrupted. I slipped my bracelet back on and called Rin off from his guard mode. He looked my way for a moment before curling up in a spiral, his wings covering his head. I smiled and looked at the group.

"What brings us here?"

"I needed to pick up a few things here but it's weird, I don't see any other bison or any nomads. Maybe they're just hiding or something," Aang trailed off. They hadn't told him yet? They hadn't told him his whole race was gone? Destroyed by the war? This was how he was going to find out, by finding dead bodies of both airbenders and firebenders? Wonderful idea. He began to walk towards off towards a statue. We followed him to it. It was a monk who had similar tattoos to Aang but he was older, a mustache drooping down just a bit past his shin and a strange necklace around his neck. It had the insignia of the Air Nomads on it, the man himself looked very wise yet Aang smiled at it like they had gotten in to plenty of trouble.

"Who's that?" Katara spoke up.

"Monk Gyatso, he was my mentor," Aang said before bowing respectfully to it.

"It all seems like it was pretty strict here. What did you guys do for fun?" I asked.

Aang smiled, "C'mon! I'll show you!"

He took off towards a pit of sticks stuck upright like poles and a strange setup on the left and right that looked like a type of goal. Aang explained the rules to us but the most I got since we weren't airbenders was to just throw the ball, powered by air, at your opponents goal to score in any fashion. I shrugged, seemed simple enough. We managed our way up on to the pole while Aang bended his way up. Once up we started, me and Sokka on one team and Aang and Katara on the other. Aang shot the ball at us, I threw a fireball at it, sending it towards Katara who bended the snow and sent back. It was out of my reach, heading straight for Sokka, he lifted his club to smack it only he swung early. The ball smacked into him, sending him off his post, the ball seemed undeterred and kept going until it reached the goal. They shouted at their victory while I jumped down to help Sokka up, Katara running over to him too. I offered him a hand and helped him up.

"You alright?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine-" he stopped and looked over next to Katara where a Fire Nation helmet stood up from the snow. I looked at them accusingly.

"Why haven't you told him yet?"

"I'm waiting for the right time," Katara said.

"You're waiting for the right time? So even Sokka thinks we should tell him? You need to tell him soon," I said, not waiting for her to answer. Aang came running over, Katara quickly sent a small avalanche to cover the evidence, sending Sokka and I off our feet and in the snow. We gave her a long look before wiggling our way out.

"Hah! We won! Want to play again?" Aang said.

"I'd love to but I think we should get your stuff and head out. It won't be long before Zuko finds us again," I said.

"Way to put a damper on things," Sokka said.

I rolled my eyes and emptied my hood of snow as Katara's stunt to hide the helmet had knocked it down. I glanced at them, half expecting them to start walking away when I noticed them looking at me.

"Uh, yeah?" I asked.

"You're eyes aren't gold, or brown," Aang said.

I knew where there this was going. I have to say I didn't like it.

"My mother had green eyes," I said quickly, lowering my tone to let them know I didn't want to talk about it. Katara gave me a sympathetic look before her previous demeanor returned.

"Note taken," Sokka said before turning and marching off, Aang followed his example and took the lead, taking us to two large doors. They had intricate pipes that created the Air Nomad insignia, in other words it looked like a giant puzzle.

"Well, it's locked, let's go before Zuko catches up," Sokka said. I grabbed his hood and pulled him back.

"Wait just a minute. You guys buried half his boat in snow and ice, even when they get out they have to get repairs. We have some time."

Sokka sighed and came back, looking at Aang expectedly. Aang blasted air into two pipes that resembled horns, creating a chain reaction that lined up each pipe before it led out to two strange metal pegs that lined up with a single horizontal peg in the middle. The horns faded into silence as the doors creaked open, leading us into an empty hall. Aang walked forward, going to the end while Sokka, Katara and I gaped at the sight. We wandered in, our footsteps echoing through the hall. Sure it was a plain hall but the immense size of it left us breathless. Aang stopped to allow us time to catch up.

"What do you think?"

"Aang, this is where you lived?" Katara said.

"It's huge!" Sokka shouted, his voice echoing.

"It's…" I trailed off. I hoped they thought I was just speechless, in reality I had stopped myself from saying, _'It's more beautiful than the Fire Nation's palace.' _

Aang led us down to a wide open room that was lined with statues, statues that continued onto the floor, making a swirl design. We walked through them, looking at each person. I knew who they were, they were the past Avatars. I half wondered if they had a room like this for the Hidden but I doubted it. A Shadow Bender was always removed from history, stories changed to keep them out. That was just the way things went. I followed Aang to the last statue, it was Roku, his gaze forward and his face regal. Aang stared at him as if in a trance, the eyes of the statue becoming blue, then the next one, and the next, it kept going until I lost sight of the statues. I looked at Aang in wonder.

"What's going on?" Sokka said rather loudly.

No one answered him as we looked at all the statues, I gently touched Roku, knowing he was the last firebender with a good reputation. The gentle blue light began to fade in the same way it had come. I sighed and shrugged, guess I didn't have the 'magic touch'. We looked around for a little longer before there was strange grunting noise that froze us in our tracks. Katara, Sokka and Aang hid behind statues while I pressed myself against the wall so I could lean my head into the hall.

I glanced down the hall and felt my pulse quicken, a shadow of a soldier was becoming larger as it came towards us. I looked at my companions and put a finger to my lips and pointed to the shadow. Sokka took out his club, while I pulled out my Due Dao swords. Bending was a last resort for me. The shadow was becoming longer, the target almost in view. I hardly noticed there was a severe lack of footsteps, my heart was pounding in my chest. I couldn't take it, I looked at Sokka, nodded, and we both ran out from the room, entering the hall where we found a lemur. Sokka was doing his foolish battle cry as we charged but he faltered and faded into silence at the sight of the animal. Katara and Aang came behind us, stopping at our sides, I sheathed my swords. For a moment we just stood staring back at each other, us and the lemur.

"Meat!" Sokka yelled.

"No!" Aang shouted.

They both ran at the lemur who screeched in response and took flight. I quite literally mean flight, he spread his wings and took off. I watched, bewildered, as the lemur flew down the hall, away from the crazed man.

"Oh boy," I said as Katara and I ran after them.

We took several turns down halls we didn't know, like we were mice trapped in a maze but instead of following the scent of cheese we were following the shouts of Sokka and screeches of a flying lemur. We took a right turn and found ourselves come to a slightly collapsed area where the gentle light gently flowed in. We found Aang standing still, looking down at a skeleton dressed in tattered robes that were same colors as Aang's. He had the same necklace as the statue of monk Gyatso from outside. I looked around and found several other skeletons dressed in old Fire Nation armor. Sokka put a hand on his shoulder.

"I was just kidding Aang, I wasn't going to eat the lemur," he said softly.

We all knew it wasn't the lemur he was upset about. He turned to Sokka, his eyes and tattoos glowing blue as the wind picked up, sending debris into the air. He slowly rose from the ground, the wind picking up speed until what was left of the area was torn apart and thrown to the side. Sokka grabbed Katara and fled behind what was left of a wall, I ran to join them.

"Someone needs to calm him down!" I shouted over the gusts of wind.

"Sure, you go have fun with that, Ignacia!" Sokka shouted back.

"I can't do it! I'm a firebender, he'll just throw me to the side! Hey! Where's Katara?"

Sokka turned to his left but his sister was gone. We looked back at Aang and saw Katara grab his hand and slowly bring him down, wrapping her arms around him. The wind died down, Sokka and I came from our hiding spot and joined them. I stood to the side while Sokka joined the hug. I wanted to join but it just felt wrong. I waited until they pulled away to give Aang a small smile.

"I'm sorry Aang, I really am. I'm sorry about all of this. It never should have happened," I said softly.

"It's not your fault, you didn't do it."

I nodded and looked away. I didn't feel forgiven for the actions of my family line. We walked silently back to our rides, a gentle breeze blowing past us. I wondered when I was going to tell them who I was, I probably wasn't to be total honest. They wouldn't trust me I if I did, the only way I would tell them was when the war ended or if it slipped out. I listened to Katara and Sokka explain what had happened in the last hundred years, what had become of his people.

"The same happened to all the temples," they said.

I joined in, "Aang, you're the last airbender. Gives you an advantage I think."

"How?" he asked miserably.

"Everyone believes the Avatar has abandoned them, they believe all the airbenders are all gone. News of the returning Avatar, an appearance of an airbender, they'll shun the idea. It may not last forever but you have that much for now."

"For now," he mumbled.

"Then there's Appa, no one can follow us in the sky," I said.

"Unless they have a dragon," he said.

"That's just me. Aang, firebenders became foolish and cocky after the massacre of your people, they began to hunt dragons. By killing one you proved that you were the ultimate firebender, you had bested your master. My dragon, Rin, is the last," I said, keeping my gaze on the ground.

"We have the sky," Aang confirmed.

We came to our pets and found them both asleep. I tapped Rin on the snout gently, he blinked his silver eyes open, shaking his head and uncurling. My stomach growled, making my cheeks flush with color.

"You hungry?" Aang asked.

"Yeah," I admitted, trying to hide my embaressment.

He bended onto Appa's back and came down with some fruit. Sokka and I both chose a peach while Katara took a smaller fruit, a familiar face joining us. The lemur from the temple landed on Sokka's shoulder, took his peach and jumped onto Aang's shoulder before Sokka could smack him. We laughed as he stared at Sokka and took a bite.

"Are you kidding me?!" Sokka shouted.

"I don't know Sokka, maybe he just has a really good poker face," I said, taking a bite of my own peach.

"I think I'll call him Momo," Aang said.

"You're going to keep him?!"

"Cut him some slack, he's option B if we ever run out of food."

Momo paused and looked at me.

"It was just joke," I said putting my hands up. Momo stared at me a moment longer before going back to Sokka's peach.

"Tough crowd," I mumbled. We shared another laugh.

"Should we camp here for the night?" I asked.

"I don't see a problem with that," Aang said.

Katara and Sokka nodded in agreement. They laid out their bed rolls while Aang sat on the ground petting Momo. I went around and gathered some wood, just stray splinters from the war. I came back and laid them on the stone ground, warming my hand and running it over the wood to dry them out from the several mornings of frost they had endured. I could feel the group's eyes on me as I firebended, I kept my own on the logs, until one started to smolder. I stopped and stacked them, Sokka coming over and helping me. I was surprised at first but accepted it. I pulled some twigs I had plucked from some dead trees and placed them in the center. Summoning a white flame to my hand, I let it spread to the twigs, letting them grow bright. Rin made a crescent moon shape, completing the circle we had around the fire. I leaned against him and stared at the growing flames.

I thought back to Zuko's ship, back to Alec. I had missed him over the years, cherished the few minutes we had spent with each other, and wished I had taken him with me. I remembered when we were kids, the crush I had formed for him over the years until he had been pulled out of my life. The time I had spent with him had reminded me why had like him so much, I was craving more time with him. Providing he didn't die somehow, I had a feeling I wouldn't see him until this war ended. My life had been a mess held together by my mentors' word and the hope of seeing Iroh again. Spending each day in a personal hell, spending each day with people, family, who you know loathe you, was one of the worse ways for someone to grow up. The sun dipped below the horizon, the lights of the night peeking out from a pink/purple veil smiled down on us. I had looked to those lights night after night, hoping I would be released from my prison that never did happen though. I would sneak out to see the lower cities though, that was fun until Ozai sent guards to find me, then it was even more fun. I remember playing a makeshift game of hide and seek with the guards every time, it was substitute for the real game since Azula didn't want anything to do me. Azula only wanted to 'play' a game with me if it involved humiliating me. I had learned quickly and after the age of five or six, I stopped playing with her.

"Hello? Earth to Ignacia!" Sokka shouted to me from across the fire.

"What?"

"We've only been trying to get your attention for the past two minutes."

"Yeah, yeah, what's up?"

"You can't be much older than Sokka. How did your family handle your search for the Avatar?" Katara asked, her tone was a bit harsher compared to the one she used with everyone else.

"Family? My mother was an immigrant from another Nation when she met my father. She went back to her Nation and gave birth to me, she died shortly afterwards. My uncle heard the news and took care of me, my father wanted nothing to do with me. My uncle eventually had duties to attend to but he left me in good hands," I summed up for them.

"What Nation was your mother from?" Aang asked curiously.

I stared at him for a minute before looking away, "She was from the Southern Water Tribe. Needless to say, I didn't fit in with the people around me."

I waited for Katara or Sokka to jump up and call me a liar, but they didn't. They just stared at me like I had grown two heads. I put my hands in my lap and stared at them like they were the most interesting things in the world.

"What was her name?" Katara asked careful.

"Amaya," I said just as carefully.

There was a silence.

"Never heard of her," Sokka said skeptically.

"Sokka, she died because she was sick and child labor was too much on her weak body. Of course you wouldn't have heard of her," I said bluntly.

"She's right," Aang said.

"What about you guys?" I asked. I wanted to change the subject before they asked what I was doing on Zuko's ship.

"Our father is with the rest of the men from our tribe. They all left to fight the war against the Fire Nation," Katara said.

"What of your mother?" I asked.

Katara grabbed the chocker necklace around her neck and looked away.

"The Fire Nation took away more than just our men with their war," she said quietly.

I looked away and nodded, this small group had every right to have grudge against my Nation. After a silence I heard Aang speak up.

"You're different."

"I always have been," I responded.

"That's good," he said with a smile.

"Where are we going exactly?" I asked.

"The North Pole to find a waterbender to teach Aang and I," Katara said.

"That's a long way from here."

"We'll be fine."

I nodded and added, "I don't know about you guys but I need to find a town tomorrow to get some more food."

"That sounds like a plan," Sokka's muffled voice said from somewhere in his bed roll. Aang stood and flopped down onto Appa's tail. There was a chorus of goodnights we all shifted to get comfortable. I snuggled against Rin who coiled his body around me, putting one of his wings over me like a blanket. Tomorrow we would start the first leg of our journey.


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in forever, school has kept me pretty busy. Writing this out, I realized why it was a TV show and not a book. Well, here ya' go. Enjoy. Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters except Ignacia, Alec, and Rin, the rest belong to Nickelodeon. **

The next morning I was awakened by Rin's soft growls, wisps of my loose hair were blown back by the warm air from his nose as he breathed. I blinked open my eyes and squinted through the rays of the sun. Rin nudged me, I groaned and rolled over, another few minutes couldn't hurt. He snorted and moved his head away, moving his wing so it no longer covered me. I curled up in a ball in response. Instead of leaving me be I felt something soft graze against me cheek, tickling me. I rolled over again and pulled up my hood, wishing he'd just leave me be when I felt my head hit the hard ground. I heard Rin's claws click as he walked away with yet another snort. Somebody was being sassy today. Letting out a groan I got to my feet and stretched, pulling out my braid and mechanically combing through my hair as looked at the rising sun. The pink and orange rays dyed everything and everybody in a thin veil. Speaking of everybody, I noticed the group was still sleeping soundly. I looked, no, I glared at Rin who had lain back down to bask in the pink light.

Seriously? What was the point of waking me up if everyone else was going to sleep, including him? Fine. I guess I was going to have to play the mother role and wake everyone else up. I knelt next to Katara and gently shook her shoulder, "Katara, c'mon, it's time to get up, we have to go," I said softly. She flickered her eyes open and sat up quickly, looking around in a dazed confusion.

"Where- Oh. That's right. Morning Ignacia. I'll wake everyone else up, don't worry about it," she said.

I nodded and began to rake my hair up into a simple ponytail. I wondered how fast Zuko's ship would be fixed, not the first thought I wanted in my head so early in the morning but one that sprung up immediately. I let out a sigh, only time would tell. I glanced over at Katara and saw she had gotten both of the boys up and even managed to get Sokka to take care of both of their bed rolls. Katara was looking over a map with Aang. I walked over and looked over Aang's shoulder, they both squinted at it like it was some sort of puzzle they couldn't figure out.

"What are we looking for?" I asked, mimicking their squint.

"The quickest way to the North Pole," Katara said.

"Where to go first before the North Pole," Aang said.

They looked up at each other at the same time, Sokka joined us and looked between them before looking at me oddly. I shrugged.

"Seems we're on different pages," I answered.

"I thought we were going to the North Pole," he said.

"We are but there's some stops I wanted to make first," Aang said turning his eyes back to the map.

"Aang, we can't just mess around with the time we have-"

I cut Sokka off with a hard glare. He squinted at me and put his hands up in a 'what?' gesture. I rolled my eyes and looked at Katara, our eyes met and we nodded. Aang was the Avatar and needed to learn waterbending but at the same time he was twelve year old kid and some fun couldn't hurt. Besides, he needed to know how this world had changed. I looked back at Sokka who now had his arms folded against his chest.

"I've lived in a tribe filled with women and I still can't figure out their language. Do you guys just use eye twitches to communicate or something?" he stared at me hard in the eye and started twitching it along with a few winks for good measure.

"You just called yourself blubbering cabbage slug with a dead ear. You should work on your girl talk," I said. Katara laughed and soon I couldn't hold my straight face and burst into laughter with her.

"Oh please, you're just hiding how upset you are that I cracked your language open," Sokka said rolling his eyes.

"I'm sure that's it," Aang offered encouragingly though he had his smile hidden behind the map. Sokka grumbled something about jerky and girls before joining us around the map. Aang pointed out various spots for vacationing and listed off what one could do while visiting. I waited patiently for him to finish, though I didn't really check in with them until he got there. While he talked I thought about what Zuko could be planning next. Could he have sent word that he had found the Avatar? No, he would want to have all the credit for it. I focused in again, catching Sokka's say in all matters of travel.

"This seems like too many stops. Why don't we just take a few, like say, six, while making our way to the North Pole."

"I agree with Sokka. We can't afford to take too many stops. There will be too many people spreading word about you and it won't take long for you to be known as far as the Fire Nation. What do you think Katara?"

"It seems fair, we can take time to visit the other places later. What do you think Aang?"

Aang nodded and pointed at an area on the map, "We're definitely going here though, it's the best place to ride elephant koi."

I looked at Katara and Sokka who exchanged glances with each other and me. Elephant koi? Okay then, whatever he wanted. Aang rolled up the map and smiled.

"So it's decided. We'll make a few stops and the whatnot and then we'll be in the North Pole in no time!" He shouted as he airbended onto Appa's head.

"C'mon!"

Sokka and Katara started for the giant bison, I followed, a question resting on the tip of my tongue.

"Guys," I said, making their heads turn towards me, "I trust you enough to take care of the Avatar. I want to check up on Zuko, make sure he isn't too close. Would you be alright with that? Rin can catch up with Appa no problem, I'll just meet you at, what was it? Kyoshi Island," I said.

"Wait, you want to go back to Zuko? Did you just join our group?" Sokka challenged.

"I'm not going back to him. I was never with him. He was more of a convenience. I am with you guys by the way, I'm just checking to make he isn't too close. I'll draw his attention away if need be."

"How do we know you aren't going to go to him and tell him to go to Kyoshi Island to ambush us?"

"What?! You think that lowly of me? You know I'm the Shadow Bender! Is it because I'm from the Fire Nation?" I spat back.

"Enough!" Aang and Katara shouted at us.

"Sokka, leave her alone, she saved us from Zuko. Ignacia, it's not that we don't trust you but I think we all can agree you haven't been with us for very long, hardly a day. It's too soon to be leaving the group," Katara said.

I nodded, it made sense and to honest, I hardly expected them to give me the go ahead. I turned and snapped my fingers twice, Rin lifted his head from the ground, his eyes drooping from drowsiness. He got to his feet and came toward me, taking his sweet time. I rolled my eyes, how typical. I met him halfway and got on his back, he let out a sigh and looked at Appa, waiting for his move.

"Yip, Yip!" Aang shouted.

Appa growled or mooed, I'm not sure what to call that noise he makes, and took to the air. Rin followed in suit, he went above Appa, disappearing into the clouds. I stuck my hand out and let it run through the vapor, making me wish that clouds felt as fluffy as they looked. I sighed and leaned back on one of Rin's spikes. It would have made more sense to travel on Appa as a group and have Rin follow us but it's not like this was going to be a long flight anyway. I shifted my weight, feeling Rin tilt to the right, bringing us back down to Appa, we were level this time.

"What's his name again?" Aang asked, his curious gaze traveling Rin's body.

"Rin," I answered.

"He's like Appa, the last of his kind, right?"

"Yeah, I guess they have something in common."

"Would you mind if I asked you some questions?"

"Of course not, you already started. Ask away."

"You said Zuko was a convenience. How?"

"Zuko has been searching for the Avatar for three years, reading about your past lives, everything. If anyone was going to find him it was going to be him. I guess I was wrong though, Katara and Sokka beat him to you."

"I guess so. Why would he be searching for me?"

I glanced at Sokka and Katara who stared at me with equal interest.

"Zuko was banished by his father, Ozai, from the Fire Nation to find you. It's the only way he can return to the Fire Nation with his honor fully restored."

"He's Prince Zuko then?" Sokka asked.

"Son of Fire Lord Ozai. Brother of Princess Azula. Nephew of General Iroh. If you're into titles, I've never been a fan of them. People are people, we all end up the same when we're six feet under."

"You use proper titles for me," Aang said.

"You're the Avatar, you never die. You're just reincarnated, so that deserves a title."

"If he's Prince Zuko, and so high and mighty, then why did he accept you onto his ship?" Katara asked.

"Iroh has been with him since his banishment; he's a kind man and sees the war as a foolish imbalance of power and respect. I've always been close him, as for Zuko, we knew each other as kids but after his banishment he changed. Anyway, Iroh was the one who allowed me onto the ship."

"You do know Zuko," Sokka started.

"No, not anymore," I cut him off.

There was nothing but the whistling of the wind between us now. No one said anything for a while, we barely even spoke when we landed at a small port, bought some supplies and left for the air again. It was only a matter of time before word spread now. Surprisingly, no one called me out or messed with me in my Fire Nations clothes, maybe it wasn't uncommon to see people like me. We made another stop to rest for the night, still little conversation. I hoped my connection with Zuko hadn't severed the weak link of trust between the group and I. They should at least be happy I was being honest, if I wasn't then it would have become a nest of lies. I looked up from the fire and cleared my throat.

"I hope you guys still trust me. I only told you that because trust goes two ways. I trust you enough with my past, You should trust me enough to have your back," I said before standing up and walking a away.

They didn't call me back and I didn't expect them to. I went behind a rock and changed into some more comfortable clothes for the night, letting my swords fall to the ground with a clatter. The noise drew me from my mind. I slipped on a loose silk shirt and kneeled down next to the swords, picking them up carefully. I pulled Anger from its sheath, the name was etched into the blade, just above the hilt. After looking it over I checked Sufferer who had matched the other in the same manor. For a minute I just stared at the blades. I hadn't taken them out in such a long time, much less practiced with them.

I slid them back into their sheathes and grabbed my clothes, shoving them into a bag and leaning against Rin. As per usually he wrapped his body around me, covering me in a warm darkness. I closed my eyes and curled up into a ball, letting my mind drift. I faded in and out of a few dreams until I settle on one, but it felt different from a normal dream. I stood next to Iroh, a small dock busy around us. I looked past Iroh and saw Zuko glaring at someone across from us.

"Admiral Zhao," he said through gritted teeth.

"Prince Zuko," he said in his smug voice.

I rolled my eyes. I knew him well and I have to say I wasn't a big fan. He was one of those people who would stare you in eye and tear you apart, laughing when you had nothing left. He was a talented firebender as well. His dark eyes were watching Zuko carefully, searching him for a weak spot. His muttonchops came out to a point from his strong jaw. He stood over Zuko a few inches and his hair was brought back into a traditional Fire Nation bun. All in all: disgusting. Not because of his looks but because of what was contained in the shell of this man.

"How's your search for the Avatar gone?" he continued.

Iroh and Zuko exchanged glances, a big mistake on their part, Zhao was an observant man, he wouldn't stop until his original thoughts were proven correct, even if it meant forcing you to give into something you had never done. I had seen him in action.

"Ah, nothing yet, still searching," Zuko answered quickly. Too quickly for Zhao, he turned his ever important attention to Iroh.

"General Iroh, care to join me for some tea?"

"What kind?"

"Jasmine."

"Of course," he said delighted.

Zuko growled in annoyance, fire flickering from his hands.

"Come along Zuko," Iroh called.

I followed them to a neat tent with a map plastered on the wall. It was lit with only a few candle but that seemed enough. Sure it was private but it was always so much darker than the light from outside, it seemed a bit pointless to me. I watched as Zhao played the proper host role and poured Iroh some tea, sitting across from him. Of course Zuko was offered nothing, not even a chair, he seated himself and sat in the silence of his own anger. I wondered what strategy Zhao would pull with this, he knew something was up.

"I see your ship has taken quite the hit," he started.

He was a clever one, smarter than a majority of the generals in the Fire Nation but he was too rash. I watched as he tightened the noose around his 'guests'.

"Well, you know how those icebergs seem to come from nowhere," Iroh said with a chuckle, then forcing himself to choke down some more tea.

"Oh I'm sure. Are you sure you don't have a single lead on the Avatar?"

"None, now if you don't mind we'll be taking our lea-"

"Now, don't be so rude Zuko. It was just an honest question."

"Yes, I'm simply curious," Zhao said with a smile.

I was on Zuko's side for this one. I probably would have punched Zhao in the throat for that stupid smile of his, but I'm not sure I could really do anything. I understood what Iroh was doing. He was trying to play it down, stay calm and the enemy would suspect nothing. Unfortunately, Zhao had been waiting for Zuko's response, he knew the search was going well.

"The boy is right though, we haven't found anything," Iroh confirmed.

"You're positive? A powerful gust of wind couldn't have sent snow and ice cascading down onto your ship, damaging it?"

"Where did you hear that?!" Zuko spat, he stood up and glared at the Admiral.

"You should watch the mouth of your crew more closely. You know, I do grow tired of being an Admiral, I do believe the capture of the Avatar would bring me up a few ranks. Wouldn't you think so?"

"You can't take him away like that! They Avatar is mine Zhao!"

"You had him and you couldn't keep him! No wonder your father didn't want you around! He couldn't stand to look at a failure everyday and couldn't bear to call him his son! He disowned you more than he did Ignacia!" Zhao spat.

My heart beat quickened, no one said that, especially not an Admiral to a Prince. That was past crossing the line, it completely destroyed it. Wait. How did he know my name? We had meet several times but only spoken once, maybe twice. I felt a cold chill run down my back.

"That's it! I challenge you to an Agni Kai!" Zuko shouted, every nerve on his neck and forehead bulging from anger.

Zhao smirked, "Ready to get a matching scar?"

Zuko didn't answer he turned and stormed out, Iroh thanked his host for the tea and sprinted out after Zuko, calling his name. I stared at Zhao for a moment, he had planned this all out within a few seconds after noticing someone strange with the nephew and uncle. He laughed for a second before a messenger came in.

"Admiral, a message from the Fire Nation," he said.

Zhao took the scroll and unraveled it to reveal a wanted poster. A wanted poster of me.

"Ignacia? What's she wanted for?" he asked.

I knew what I was wanted for, I wasn't exactly surprise for the warrant but I didn't expect it to be so soon.

"Stealing from the Fire Lord himself, sir."

"Hm. It must have been worth a considerable amount for them to be conducting a search for her."

"I suppose so, sir. Now if you'll excuse me, I have more rounds to make."

The messenger scurried off, mounting his ostrich horse and heading back to his ship. Lazy was my first though, my second was what the hell?

"So, I'll take the Avatar for myself, bumping me up a few ranks, then I'll return with Ignacia and the stolen property. I'll save the Fire Nation an enormous loss, then the Fire Lord will have to make one of his generals, from there I can get close and become one of his most trusted generals. It'll be easy to get rid of Zuko and that fool Iroh, Azula will be a bit more difficult. Then I'll eliminate Ozai, becoming the Fire Lord and ruling all the Nations," Zhao muttered to himself.

I never knew Zhao talked to himself, unless he had an imaginary friend but that seemed unlikely. Zhao was insane, only a mentally disturbed person could imagine taking the throne for himself and ruling the world all in one sitting. Either that or he was just stupid. It could have been both for all I knew. I waited for Zhao to start moving, to start preparing for the Agni Kai but instead he seemed frozen in time, the candles growing dimmer until they were extinguished, leaving me in darkness. A new scene came into view: a flat area surrounded by concrete walls cast in the red light of sunset. Zuko and Zhao were both facing each other, a few seconds into the Agni Kai, both staring furiously at each other.

"Are you ready to bring yet more shame and dishonor to yourself? Your family has already cast you to the side, not much worse could really be done to you," Zhao taunted.

Zuko said nothing, though rash and easily angered he kept his calm. Iroh had taught us never to give into taunts, only the week used them. Instead Zuko closed the distance between them, sending blast of fire at his opponent with each punch. Zhao smiled and weaved his way through the fury. Zuko let out a cry as he sent a huge blast Zhao's way, blinding him for a quick moment, before Zuko got low and swept his leg in an arch. Zhao fell to the ground, let out a gasp as the air escaped his lungs, Zuko stood over him, rage carved on every feature of his face. I shouted for Zuko to do it, the world didn't need another blood thirsty man like him, he would make Zuko's and Aang's life more complicated than it need to be.

A large blast of fire took both men from my sight for a moment before the smoke cleared and revealed an awful sight. Zhao stared up at Zuko, shock quickly being replaced with a victorious smile. Great, the man still lived. I groaned and looked over at Iroh who smiled at his nephew's choice to let Zhao live. If only he knew what the crazed man had planned. Zuko turned and called to Iroh, his shoulders squared, believing he had been the bigger man. This was true in a sense but if they only knew, then they would have wished Zuko had killed him. The scene faded into darkness again, Zhao's slurs fading into silence.

Yet another scene came to me, I was in Zuko's cabin, lit by only a few candles. He was meditating, the candle flames growing and shrinking with his breathing, which was rather calm for once. It was a small technique for the original firebenders, very simple but helpful. There was a knock at the door, the sharp rap neither making Zuko jump or lose his rhythm.

"Come in," he said.

Iroh entered, a scroll in his hand.

"I have some good news, some bad news and some interesting news."

"Uncle, you've taught me that keeping a level head is important for a leader, whatever you have to say I'm sure I can handle."

"Okay. Well, the good news is there have been several sightings of the Avatar, the bad news is there's no pattern to his movements and we can't locate him-"

"WHAT?!"

The flame from the candles flared up into angry flames as Zuko stood from his spot and ripped one of the scrolls from Iroh's hands. I leaned over and saw a map dotted with the areas and trails Aang had left, none of it making much sense.

"He's obviously a master of evasion. What's the interesting news?"

"Uh, well, here," Iroh hand Zuko the second scroll, "A young messenger gave me this before we left but it had run from my mind with all the drama of the Agni Kai."

"It's a wanted poster of… Ignacia? For stealing from my father? A traitor maybe, but a thief?" Zuko squinted at the poster for a minute but shook his head, rolled it up, and returned to the map. He stared at it like it was some sort of puzzle, waving his hand at Iroh. Iroh sighed and looked at the scroll in his hand, shaking his head. I followed him out of Zuko's room, wondering where he was going, half expecting him to throw the poster away. Instead he took several turns down unfamiliar halls, through seemingly random doors to me, and finally ending in the crews quarters. He looked through the hammocks until he found a specific one. He gently shook the man awake.

"Hmm? Iroh? What's wrong-"

"Shh. Here, take this and remember she didn't pick this life. I suggest you remain her friend, she wouldn't want anything else of you and I wouldn't expect anything less of you," Iroh whispered as he handed Alec the poster. He put a finger to his lips and quickly left. I came up next to my old friend, leaning over his shoulder as he unraveled the parchment and walked over to a dimly lit lantern. I followed and watched as he squinted at it, reading it. After a moment he lowered it and sighed, his face relaxed but clearly raw with exhaustion. I knew he wouldn't feel it but I wrapped my arms around him, wishing he was with me now.

"Ignacia, what have you done?" He whispered softly.

The words stung, I was doing the best I could to be honest. What more did he want from me? I could see the lantern beginning to dim, darkness consuming my vision and leaving me to shed a few silent tears with only myself for comfort.

"What? She isn't doing us any good sleeping."

"Sokka, I don't think she's going to wake up by dumping her in the water. We already tried dumping some on her. What makes you think that'll work this time?"

"Fine, Katara the All Knowing. What do we-"

"Shh! She's waking up!"

I blinked open my eyes and sat up, wind blowing my loose hair back. I looked around and saw Katara, Sokka and Aang staring at me. I yawned and stretched.

"Any reason I'm on Appa?" I asked bluntly.

"Uh, Ignacia, you've been asleep for two days," Aang said slowly.

"What?!"

"It must have been one amazing dream," Sokka muttered.

"How could I have been asleep for two days?!"

"Calm down, I'm sure you were just exhausted," Katara mumbled.

"No," I said, "I think it had something to do with my dream."

"I knew it!" Sokka shouted.

"Uh, sure. Anyway, I think it was a spirit dream or something. I was with Iroh and Zuko again, they were at a dock getting repairs. They ran into an Admiral named Zhao, he tricked them into giving information about you. I hate to say it but now I think Zuko isn't the only one after us," I said.

"Great, just what we need," Sokka said.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

No one answered.

"Two days? I still don't understand…" I mumbled.

"Why don't you ask the All Knowing Katara," Sokka suggested.

"Sokka-"

"Wait, wait. Calm down. I think I might know…" I trailed off as I thought back to Zhao, the poster was given to him, well it had been two days since I was last awake and the date on the poster was the day before. Somehow I had gone back in time then fast forwarded, guessing from the marks on the map Zuko had been looking at. I nodded, I guess it made it sense.

"Okay. It all makes sense. Listen-" I stopped midsentence and stared at Sokka, my eyes wide.

"What?"

"Uh, why aren't you wearing pants?"

"Oh, I have them," Katara said.

I look over and saw her sowing a huge rip in the butt.

"When..?"

"While you were asleep," she said, keeping her eyes on her task.

"Aang, do you even know where we're going?" Sokka asked staring at the map.

"Sure," he answered.

"Positive?"

"No."

"Great."

"Let me look," Katara said.

"No, you keep sowing. This is a man's job."

"Excuse me?!"

"What? Girls are better at sowing and girly stuff while guys are better at fighting and hunting and, well, manly stuff."

"Fine! You can so your own pants if you're so great at everything!" She said and as she let the breeze take his pants to him.

"No wait! I was- Katara! I need your help!"

"Fine. Just don't stereo type again or you can do your own laundry fro now on."

I stared at Sokka, shocked. Did he really just say that? In the Fire Nation there were tons of women who fought, even Azula. What was he thinking? Oh, well, I guess in the Tribes things were much different.

"Sokka, did you just say women can't fight?"

"What of it?"

I glared at him, he looked at me oddly before his eyes widened.

"Oh, well, I guess they could but that doesn't mean they're good at it."

I clenched my fists. Did this fool want me to take him down right now? I tore my eyes away from him and looked at the water quickly passing by. I needed to calm down, if I attacked it could send me back to square one with them. I took a deep breath, and rolled my eyes.

"Sokka, let me see the map. I know how to read one, I grew up in a strange setting and studied a lot of things."

"Knock yourself out," he said as he tossed it to me.

I grabbed it in mid air and opened it, tracing it from the places they had been. According to it we should be…

"Sokka, which way did you guys go from here?" I asked pointing to their last stop.

"This way, I think. Maybe this way," he said pointing in two opposite directions. He paused for a minute, "Wait. You've been out for two days, how did you-"

"Guys look! Kyoshi Island!" Aang shouted.

"Glad to know he recognizes it," Katara mumbled under her breath.

I nodded, grabbing Sokka's pants from Katara's outstretched hand and giving them to their owner. We landed shortly afterwards, all but Aang slid off from Appa's tail, the Avatar bended off. I looked down at my night wear and sighed. I gripped the whistle and blew, wanting to change into thicker and warmer clothes, though it wasn't like Fire Nation clothes was exactly made for cold weather. Rin bellowed from the sky, landing next to Appa in a quick fluid motion.

"I'm going to change," I said.

"Okay, but be quick, you have to see me ride the elephant koi!" Aang said. He made eye contact with me but quickly smiled at Katara, then turned and started to shed his clothes. I grabbed my bag and went behind Appa, changing quickly as Aang had suggested. I strapped my swords to my back and smiled. It felt good to feel them rest against back again. I walked back, my bag in hand, strapped it back on Rin and watched as the small Avatar clung to the spine of a giant koi fish. I opened my mouth though nothing came out, the fish was beautiful, the color, the size, the shape of the creature was all gorgeous.

"Appa! No, don't eat that!" Katara yelled.

I turned and saw Appa munching on some strange, dead tree. I raised my eyebrow but let it be, Katara was a big girl. I looked at Sokka who had a bored look on his face, which was not at all surprising.

"Why don't you go join him, Water Tribe boy?"

"Nah, I'm not a big fan of cold water honestly. Too many stories about drowning."

"Really? Huh. That's a surprise."

"So you were going to explain how you knew where we had left after being passed out?"

"Oh, I tell you guys when Aang comes back to shore."

"What's that?"

Sokka pointed to a dark shadow in the water that was making a quick advance towards Aang's elephant koi. The others were dragged underneath. Katara joined us at that moment and we all froze.

"Aang! Get out of the water!" I screamed.

Katara and Sokka joined me, swinging their arms like madmen, trying to call him in. He waved at us in response. Clearly, he wasn't picking up what we were putting down.

"Aang!" Katara screamed as his koi fish was pulled down. His small body skipped across the water before he landed and came to a stop. He came up and looked around, confused. Behind him a giant serpent or eel rose from the water, its eyes locked on him. Its whiskers moved and twirled as it took note of the air, the yellow markings just below its gills standing out clearly against its gray brown skin.

"AANG!" We all screamed in unison. Not one of our brightest ideas I suppose as the beast looked our way and let out a roar that battled with Rin's own. Aang glanced behind him, only to be launched into a frenzy of running and air bending as he bolted across the water towards us. We waved him in, even allowing him to crash into us.

"What was that?" Sokka asked as Aang dressed again.

"I don't know," he answered.

I glanced at the water again, now eerily still, the only thin that suggested otherwise was the large ripple where the beast once was. Katara said something but I didn't catch it, I heard the sound of snow crashing into the ground as something large jumped from it. I turned just in time to see a girl wearing a mask descend towards me. I stepped to the side and blocked her attack with my forearm. I heard the others fumbled and try to fight their way free. I focused on the warrior in front of me, her movements quick and methodical. I heard the sound of snow crunching as another girl came at me. I turned and blocked her attack in the same manor. I didn't have time to grab my swords at the moment, their attacks were coming too quickly, I could see other girls coming at me from the side. I felt panic begin to close up my throat, there was only one thing left for me: firebending. I didn't have time to think this through all the way, I had to save the Avatar and his friends.

I had barely felt the heat reach my finger tips before my knees buckled and I fell to the ground. I tried to roll over and fight but there was too many, some holding me down and others tying me up, then the world went black. I was still conscious but my vision was obscured by a blind fold. They forced me to my feet and began to walk us to, somewhere, I wasn't sure. I could hear Sokka threatening them but they kept silent, whoever these people were, they didn't care much for us or our threats as we were defenseless now. They had taken my swords when they pinned me down. I wondered what they had done with Appa and Rin, I hadn't heard either of them put up a fight. Asking them would do no good, they wouldn't answer.

After a time they pressed me up against a wood pole, I could feel a rope tighten around my torso. I grunted as they pulled it tight, then the blinds were ripped off to reveal a whole village. The female warriors who attacked us glared at us, along with an old man with a white beard and a stern look in his eyes. I looked closely at the warriors and realized they didn't have masks on but paint. I felt the rope around my hands, it was thin, I broke it easily but the rope around us was thicker. I thought about burning through it for a moment before Sokka intturputed my thoughts.

"Where are the men who attacked us!? I want to have a talk with them!"

"There were no men," one girl said.

"What? Impossible! You couldn't have taken us down that easily!"

"Listen, are you going to keep talking or hear what we have to say? If you keep talking we'll feed you to the unogi," she threatened.

"Are you Fire Nation spies?" the old man asked.

"No, we're not," I answered.

"You expect us to take your word for it?"

"If you expected us to lie then why did you ask? We can prove it if you want," I said nonchalantly.

"You won't have time to prove it if you keep talking like that," he threatened.

"Yeah, yeah, you'll feed us to your beastie. Aang, you start talking, I'm not helping."

"Is that Avatar Kyoshi?" Aang asked, looking up at the wooden statue we were tied to.

"Yes."

"I know her."

The whole village burst into laughter, but I saw where he was going with this.

"That's impossible, she died hundreds of years ago," the man said.

"I did know her, or rather, I was her. You see, I'm the Avatar."

The village started laughing again.

"Aang, speed it up a bit," I ushered.

"Okay, okay," he muttered. Aang airbended from the ropes and landed gingerly. I expected some serious talk or even a blast of air but instead Aang took out some marbles and airbended them in a circle. There was no laughing now, instead people went insane, rejoicing and jumping and screaming.

"My name is Aang, these are my friends," Aang said gesturing our way.

"My apologies, Avatar," the man said more than once.

The warrior women cut the rope, letting Sokka and Katara go. I took a step to join them but felt the rope tighten again.

"Hey!" I protested.

"You're from the Fire Nation!" the man snarled at me, his former demeanor seeming to vanish as he laid eyes on me.

I glanced down at my clothes, I had been in such a rush this morning I forgot to put on my cloak. Fantastic.

"Listen, it's not what it seems. I'm the-"

"Enough! What are you doing with the Avatar? Kidnapping him? My warriors told me about your fight. Good but not good enough."

"I'm the Shadow Bender, I'm here to protect him from the Fire Nation," I spat back.

"She's telling the truth," Aang backed me up. He came to my side and put his hand on my shoulder, Katara and Sokka following in suit.

"She helped us escape from a Fire Nation ship," Katara added.

"Let her go," Sokka said.

I felt the ropes loosen and fall to the ground. I stepped forward and shook my head, "Of course I'm a from the Fire Nation, if Aang is a airbender then the Shadow Bender is going to be a firebender. That's the order. Here, I'm not here to harm anyone, I just want to show you," I reached my hand out, palm up and let some white flames dance on it.

"I see. Very well. You may stay as well, I may suggest you get some Earth Kingdom clothes though.

"May we have our weapons back?" I asked, my tone not quite as harsh as before.

"Suki, give them their weapons."

The one who spoke before, apparently called Suki, snapped her fingers and had some of the girls bring our weapons forward. Sokka grabbed his club and boomerang, grumbling about girls with their fans. I took my swards and thanked them, though I didn't meet their eyes, I looked around for any sign of Rin or Appa.

"Where's Appa?" Aang asked.

"The bison?" the old man asked.

"And Rin, where is he?" I added.

"The dragon? Both are safe, Suki will show you where they are."

"I'll go check on them, Aang, you should go look around. This seems like a nice little village," I said.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I can go sightseeing later."

"Okay…"

I looked at the warrior called Suki, who could be identified by her short cropped hair. She nodded at me and waved a hand to follow. We walked in silence for a few minutes, straying away from the path that led out and into the village.

"That was quite the fight you put up back there," she said.

"Hmm? Oh, thanks. I had a great mentor. Your fighters, they're all girls, right?"

"Yes, we take after Avatar Kyoshi and follow her fighting style, honoring her as best we can. Are you really from the Fire Nation?"

"I am. You're the first to ask that."

"You just seem nicer than other people from the Fire Nation," she said, she was about to say something else but hesitated.

"But...?"

"Were you fighting for your safety or the Avatar's?"

"His. His and the other two, Sokka and Katara. I just needed to keep you guys at bay for a few seconds so I could cut Aang free. Then he could blast you guys back and I could cut Sokka and Katara free. You guys proved too much for me," I said with a smile.

"You're very tactical, I would hate to fight a battle against you. I guess you really are from the Fire Nation."

Before I could respond we came to a clearing where I saw Rin with his snout tied shut, his wings tied together and his legs tight against his body. He looked more like a black worm than a dragon now. I ran towards him, a white flame in my hand. Rin turned a single silver eye towards me and started to wiggle, whines coming where roars should have been heard. I brought the flame to the rope around his legs first, before moving to his wings. He brought his head close to my hand, another whine escaping his closed mouth. Once burned through he used his wings to lift himself up so only his hind legs touched the ground, he curved his body and lifted his head, letting out a furious roar. He turned his head to Suki, a growl growing louder and louder in his throat.

"Hey, Shh. It's alright boy, just a misunderstanding," I muttered, petting his stomach until he lowered himself down again.

He grunted and looked at Suki, letting out a finally huff before sniffing me up and down, looking for any injuries. I pushed his head away, laughing.

"I thought dragons were extinct," Suki said.

"You also thought all the airbenders were dead and look at Aang and Appa," I said pointing to the giant bison.

Suki walked over to Appa and started to undo the mass over ropes that crisscrossed over his body.

"I guess you have a point there."

I nodded and came next to her, helping her loosen the ropes until Appa was free. He made his strange moo, growl noise and took to the air, no doubt in search of his master and best friend. Suki and I watched as he descended in the distance, in Kyoshi. I smiled and turned heading back to the village, Suki to my right and Rin on my left.

"Where did you live while you resided in the Fire Nation?" Suki asked as we walked.

"With my Uncle," I answered. I wasn't going to elaborate, I didn't have too.

"I see."

"Men don't practice war here, do they?"

"No, you've heard of the Water Tribes that don't allow women to fight. Here, we don't allow the men to fight."

"That seems cruel and unusual."

"What? You agree with the Tribes?"

"No, no, I just find either perspective strange. I come from a Nation that allows both genders to fight, even the Princess, Azula, fights. I wish more women fought in the Tribes. Katara would make an excellent fighter if she would hone her waterbending skills a little more."

"Wait, if you firebend then why do you have swords?"

"I use firebending as a last resource. Fire was never meant to be used for intimidation like it is now. It also disguises me. At least, when I have on my cloak but the head honcho of your village is right, I need to find some Earth Kingdom clothes," I answered.

"Find a trading port, they don't care what Nation you're from or what currency. I'm sure you'll find something there."

"Thanks," I said as we entered the village again.

"Well, I have to go teach a class for our more inexperienced fighters. Maybe the guy from the Water Tribes could learn a thing or two," she said with a laugh, I chuckled in response.

Our laughter trailed off as we went our separate ways, I found Katara at a small market area picking some vegetables. I smiled as I approached, Rin pressing his snout into my hand again as we walked.

"Hey, Katara."

"Hey Ignacia. Want to carry this basket, I'll show you where our room is."

I took the basket from her hands, letting her put a few more vegetable in it before she led me away from the market.

"Where's everyone else?"

"Oh, you know, Aang is being chased by fangirls and Sokka is trying to flirt with the Kyoshi Warriors."

"Typical. What have you been up to?"

"Just stockpiling for our trip. I don't want to make too many more stops until we get to the North Pole."

"I agree. You know what will happen when we get there though, right?"

"Aang and I learn how to waterbend then we search for an earthbender."

"Sure, but Zuko isn't stupid. He'll see we're heading to the North Pole and follow. He won't be alone. I need to speak to the whole group, tonight."

"Ignacia, who else is tracking us?"

"You probably didn't hear me on Appa. We need to find Sokka and Aang, I have to tell you guys something. I'll go find Aang, and you go look for Sokka."

"Who do you expect to take the basket?"

"Oh, right, after you show me where we're staying."

I followed her back to a two story building, it was surrounded by large trees that must have been beautiful when they were in bloom, but I could only guess in the winter. Katara opened the door for me and walked me up a flight of stairs to an open room with a low table and a window propped opened with some sticks. I put the basket on the table and nodded at her. We both quickly ran down the stairs and began our search for our companions.

I walked around aimlessly for a few minutes, not sure where to start. Where would he be? Katara said he had been chased by fangirls, so he must have been hiding somewhere. I walked past the statue of Avatar Kyoshi, looking at the washed away paint, some areas were even chipped away. It was sad, especially for a town that swore to keep the Avatar's tradition but they couldn't even keep a statue of her in good condition. I kept my steady pace until I was past the path Suki and I had taken to retrieve Rin and Appa when I came to a bridge. I paused and stared at it, it was peach colored, well, maybe a more salmon than peach. Eh, I wasn't a color expert.

"Pst! Ignacia!" I heard Aang's voice.

I approached the bridge but went to the river bed, under the bridge, and found Aang crouching there. I sat next to him and picked up a rock that was cool to the touch.

"How long you been down here?" I asked.

"Oh, not long."

I heated the rock up in my hands, feeling it begin to burn my skin, I tossed in the shallows to prevent a large splash and heard it sizzle. I smiled at the sound, it was one of my favorite sounds, second to Rin's growl/purr. Steam rose up from the center of a ring of ripples.

"C'mon, we need to meet up with the others. I have something I need to tell you."

"Let's go!" Aang said, jumping to his feet.

Whatever these girls had done to him, it must have been traumatizing to have the Avatar hiding under a pink bridge. I led him out from under the bridge, only to be greeted by some very angry looking girls.

"Uh, hi," I said awkwardly.

"We want Aangy!" One yelled.

"Aangy? Well, I _need_ Aang for a little meeting. It's important."

"We want Aangy!" More of them shouted.

"Wow, wow, calm down! I just need to borrow him for a quick minute-" I tried to be nice.

"AANGY!" They shouted at me in unison.

"HEY! Calm down! Alright?! I'm not taking him away forever! Just a few minutes!" I snarled.

They stepped back a few paces, one of their lips started to quiver. Oh great, now I've done it. Was I proud? No. Was I happy? No. Was I ashamed? Not exactly. I've never met a bigger group of brats in my life, that's all I have to say. I rolled my eyes.

"Great, now I'm the big bad firebender that screamed at every child in the village. Ugh. Okay, calm down, he'll be back soon, I promise," I said in a lower town.

They sniffled and shuffled away, not saying a word. Yep, I was officially the bad guy. Maybe this is why Shadow Benders stayed away from everyone, because they scared children too much. I shook my head and began to walk, Aang's footsteps following behind me as we walked back to the village, the sun setting behind us. Katara and Sokka were probably wondering where we were by now. I had learned one thing from this whole day, I was not going to be having children in the future.

** A/N: Thank to** **A Gumshoe for the review! =D**


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N: See? New chapter! I will admit this one is a tad boring but I do need fillers. Don't be afraid to review, I'm always up for improvement. Thanks to Luna and Guest for the reviews. I don't own any of these characters except Ignacia, Alec and Rin, the rest belong to Nickelodeon. **

Crazy fangirls aside, I was feeling pretty good about opening up to the group about Zhao. There wasn't much to hide, just a spirit dream, nothing super complicated. A few words concerning him and what he did then his psychotic plans for the future. That's what I kept telling myself and it all sounded pretty good so far. I glanced up at Avatar Kyoshi, now people were scrubbing the dirt off her.

"They're going to repaint her tomorrow in my honor," Aang said having seen me watching them.

"That's good but they should have done it annually," I responded.

"I don't know, a hundred years I've been gone. Wouldn't you have lost hope by then too?"

"I... I don't know. Maybe lost hope for someone else to do the dirty work. I wouldn't just sit there and wait."

"But you would have lost hope in the Avatar, wouldn't you?"

"Yeah, I guess you have a point," I said looking at him. He was wise beyond his years for a twelve-year-old.

I was about to say something else when just past him I saw an impatient looking Katara speaking to the Mayor guy of Kyoshi. No Sokka. I let out a sigh.

"Go help Katara, she looks like she's trapped in a conversation. Tell him we have a group meeting that requires her presence or something. I'm going to go find Sokka," I instructed.

Aang nodded and air scootered his way to our friend before turning to the old man. I looked away and jogged up to the open door building that held a majority of the Warriors. I slowed my approach as I saw the goofball lean in the doorway and say the most cliché line of them all.

"Hello, ladies."

He walked in and I took his place in the doorway, watching as he slowly approached them and gently ran his finger over one of their fans.

"I know there was some confusion, maybe even some tension, when you took us down earlier but I'm here to say I'm sorry. I'm sorry I let you all win because I would have felt bad to take down a whole group of girls," he said looking at Suki.

I winced. That could have been worse but it was still one of the worst approaches I have ever heard. Suki just raised an eyebrow.

"Us girls never could have taken on a strong man like you," she said in a gooey voice.

"Had I not let you take us by surprise I could have hurt a lot of you even though we're on the same side."

Suki smiled, kicked him the knee, grabbed his hair and bent his head back, her fan at his neck.

"Hey, hey, hey! I wasn't prepared that time!" He argued.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said in a sarcastic, sympathetic voice. She let him go and shoved him away.

"Fine. Come at me."

Sokka took out his boomerang and lunged at her. Suki ducked, punched him in the stomach, ripped his hair tie out and used it to hog tie him after tripping him. The Warrior's erupted into laughter, while Suki just looked smugly at her work. Even I was smiling, sure Sokka looked humiliated and genuinely hurt but he needed something to humble him. I walked in and untied him.

"Alright, alright, we all enjoy torturing him but he is needed," I said as I helped him up.

"You should teach him a thing or two, you'd make a great Warrior of Kyoshi," Suki said.

"Except the fact I'm a firebender and the Shadow Bender. Thanks for the offer but I'm already the Warrior of the Avatar," I said just as smugly as she had to Sokka. She seemed taken aback at my tone of voice, I just hoped she got the message. I directed Sokka out of the building and handed him his hair tie.

"Thanks Ignacia," he muttered, tying his hair back up. I just nodded.

"We're having a group meeting. I have to tell you all something about someone."

"I'm always up for gossip," Sokka said.

I half-smiled and shoved his head to the side and kept walking. He was a doof, but he had potential as a fighter. Fighting was probably the one thing he took seriously, that and the well being of his sister. As we walked back to the inn where we were staying, Sokka seemed to become more down with each step he took.

"Don't let them get to you Sokka, all the men left before you could get any training. Those girls have had years of experience. Instead of getting sad or butt-hurt about it, why don't you go ask them to teach you some stuff?" I told him.

"You think I could go back to them after that?"

"You know you did call them weak because they were women, right? That's not a fact, that's an assumption; unless you want to fight with me then I'll show you what it's really like to fight a girl. Don't even try to justify your reasoning, that would be an unwise decision for your health."

Yeah, it was a small threat but I had every right to make it. I came from a place that let women fight just as hard as men. In fact, Azula was just under Iroh in skill I think I was up there with her but I had never dueled with her before. You don't just say a firebender with blue fire is weak, nor do say that if they can bend lightning too. I looked at Sokka who had his head down and seemed to be weighing his options.

"Alright. Tomorrow I'll apologize and ask if they can teach me their ways. Good enough?"

"Yeah, maybe I could teach you a thing or two after we leave too."

Sokka just nodded. We walked the rest of the way in silence. The only thing that broke it was the sound of Aang and Katara shouting at each other from the open window. Upon entering the actual room, we found a wet Aang and an angry looking Katara next to an empty bowl.

"Aang, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-" Katara's face relaxed as she reached out to touch his shoulder.

"No. You did. Why else would I be wet?" He said in a low angry voice. He moved away before her hand made contact with his shirt.

"I'm sure you're all wondering why I've gathered you here today," I started trying to change the subject.

They just stared at me.

"Listen, we don't have time to be angry with each other or to mope around because we weren't as good as we thought. Having Zuko after us is bad enough but he won't tell Ozai until he has Aang in a cage in front of him. Now we have a general named Zhao after us. He has more contacts and a better reputation than Zuko. Not to mention the fact that he's psychotic," I explained quickly.

"How do you know?" Katara asked.

"Because, I was having a whole out of body spirit dream thing while I was out for two days. I learned more than I would have wanted and I'm not exactly happy about this. We have two rash firebenders who want to get in good with Ozai by capturing the Avatar."

That dimmed the mood quite a bit.

"That couldn't have been more of a put down," Sokka muttered.

"Sokka, there is some good in the bad. There will be some competition between the two, they both hate each other so as long as they both go after us they should run into each other quite a bit."

I didn't mention that if the time came to it I would create a diversion so they could put some distance between them and the Fire Nation dogs. I looked each of them in the eye, each of them took it in a different way. Aang seemed a little let down, not sure who with though. Katara seemed to understand but her jaw was still set, showing her determination to get to the North Pole. Sokka seemed mildly irritated.

"We can't stay here long, can we?" Aang asked in a small voice.

"No, maybe another day or two but not long," I replied.

He nodded and looked to the side. I guessed he would miss the attention he received but at the same time he didn't need to be chased by a bunch of children day dreaming about marrying him.

"AAAAAAAANNNNNGGYY!"

"They're back," I muttered.

"Yeah, go back to your little fan club, they need you," Katara spat.

Aang didn't say anything, he just airbended out the window into a group of screaming girls.

"Come with me," Katara said grabbing my arm.

"Oh, okay," was all the say I could get in the matter.

She led us back to the beach where the Warriors had ambushed us and ranted on about Aang.

"He's letting all of the attention get to his head! Why doesn't he see that he's just feeding their little minds with false dreams?"

"Well, maybe-"

"Can't he just relax with the rest of us while he can? Being hunted down doesn't let you sit around for a whole day. Not typically. Right?"

"It depends on-"

"He isn't getting the whole picture!"

"He's only-"

"Being a complete idiot!" She finished my sentence.

At that point a just sat down in the cold sand and let her rant on about how infuriated she was about Aang's actions. I watched as her anger grew the water near her began to follow and mimic her hand movements. The water was become a black color now, the stars beginning to twinkle in the sky. I stood and put a hand on Katara.

"Hey, calm down. Aang has never dealt with or felt what it's like to have a fan base. He's not used to it. It'll get old soon enough," I tried to assure her. Earlier he had been hiding under a pink bridge from them, he was getting tired of the flock that followed him everywhere. Katara shook her head, unsure what to think I guessed. I put my hand on her shoulder and led her back to the inn. She was silent this time, now exhausted and out of words to describe her rage. I hate to say it but I was mildly happy about that. Both of them were overreacting to each other's feelings. It was a bit ridiculous. When we came back to the inn I found Rin waiting for me, my sleeping bag still attach to him. I untied it and told Katara not to wait up for me, she didn't. I grabbed a change of clothes and scratched Rin under the jaw. He hummed and closed his silver eyes. Then, all too soon, I was forced to walk into the inn to sleep.

I don't care what's going on in the world, I like, no, love sleep. It's the honest truth but I'm willing to get up early, if you approach me the right way. One way _not _to wake me up is screaming at each other then yelling "fine" about four times, and then have me realize Aang is committing suicide for Katara's attention. Yeah, don't wake me up like that. Ever.

I sat bolt upright and looked at Katara.

"Did Aang just say he was going to ride the unogi?"

"Yeah. Why?"

Her face was hardened into an angry expression. She sat on her knees next to a bowl of water where she was practicing waterbending. I stared at her in disbelief.

"Katara! Aang just said he's going to ride the unogi! The giant, elephant koi eating eel! You can't be that brain dead to realize he's committing suicide, can you?"

She didn't answer me.

"Fine," I stood up and dressed into my usual pants and shirt.

Katara was really starting to piss me off. Aang wasn't much better on my list though. I put Anger and Sufferer on my back, casting one last glance at Katara. She met my eyes this time, the water in her bowl rippling. She stood up and followed me out the door, apologizing as we ran out.

"I didn't think he would actually go. I'm sorry Ignacia, we all have to protect Aang and I let my frustration cloud that fact," she rambled.

"Katara, you're completely right about that and I accept your apology but let's focus," I said. I thought for a second and looked at her, "Where's Sokka?"

"He left early to go train with the Kyoshi Warriors," she answered.

I nodded. I brought my whistle to my lips and blew, Rin came down from the roof of the inn and dropped in front of us. I mounted and looked at Katara.

"I've never…"

"Just sit like I am and hold on with your legs, grab the spike in front of you if you need to."

She nodded and hopped on, she was braver than I thought. Rin took off, launching himself into the sky. We could see the general layout of Kyoshi, it was a quaint little island cut off from a lot of the other pieces of land. Besides exports and a few imports, they were secluded from the rest of the world. I wonder how they got news from the outside world. I shrugged it off and let Rin dive down toward the beach, Katara let out a small scream. I rolled my eyes and adjusted so Rin would slow down and glide to the beach. Katara calmed down, I couldn't quite hear because of the wind but I'm pretty sure she let out a sigh of relief. I would if I were her. When we landed on the beach Katara practically jumped off Rin and ran to the shore, I followed behind her.

"Aang!" She called.

We saw a little bald, tattooed, head bobbing in the water lazily. I smiled. Guess the Unogi wasn't hungry. The bobbing bald head soon had arms that it used to swim towards us, seeming to take his time. It wasn't the time for that we learned as a large eel head broke out of a wave, it looked down at Aang, water dripping from its whiskers and fangs. Its shadow hovered over Aang, making him pause. Why would he pause?!

"Aang! Just swim damn it!" I screamed at him.

Worst idea so far. At the sound of my voice the unogi lunged at him, sending Aang into a panicked run with a twinge of airbending. There wasn't much Katara and I could do besides wave him. The unogi lunged for him again after recovering from the first attempt. We watched helplessly as Aang grabbed onto the unogi's whisker and dangled there, inches from its teeth. I held my breath as the beast shook its head, sending Aang flying into the air and once again skipping across the water only much harder than last time. By the time he came to a stop he was floating belly up in the water. The unogi looked confused, it didn't have its prey, yet it couldn't spot it. Katara shouted his name, heading into the icy water. I wanted to follow but sending more than one person into waters that were home to a large eel, well, not the best thing to do. Don't try it at home.

Katara was waist deep now, her arms outstretched to reach Aang. I looked at the unogi who eyed Katara, its eyes following the direction of her arms until they found Aang limp and vulnerable. It dived, a rolling mass of water now headed for Katara who was swimming away, Aang in her arms. I climbed on Rin determined to get there before the unogi. Soon we were hovering over Katara, I was yelling at her to grab his tail, which she did with no argument. Next Rin sped to the shore, Katara dragging in the water behind him. I would like to say we made it to the shore and laughed hysterically like we lost our minds but that wasn't the case. The unogi seemed to know it was outrun and gave one last go at it.

Rising from the water once more it hissed as the water rose though its neck, before a jet of it came straight at us, knocking Rin past the shore and into a more rocky area. The landing wasn't as bad as I had expecting flying through the sky but that was considering I landed on Rin's soft underbelly. I'm sure his landing was a lot worse. It was Katara's landing that hurt the most, it hurt me at least, I'm sure she was fine after Aang had landed. All considered, Aang had the softest landing and he wasn't even conscious. I grunted and rolled Katara off me.

"You alright?" I huffed.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Katara muttered.

She got to her knees and started to bend the water out of his lungs. I looked past the rock out crop we had landed in and looked for the unogi, I found something else. I watched with anger burning through my veins as Zuko's ship pulled in.

"Katara, when you're done and he can run I want you to get back to the village and get Sokka. Get your stuff together and leave. Zuko found us," I explained.

"What are you going to do?"

"Hold him off for as long as I can. I'll catch up with you guys later. Just do as I say. I don't want him setting Kyoshi ablaze because they couldn't find Aang."

"If you're sure," she responded.

I nodded and put a hand on Rin. He stirred and got to his feet, looking at me with big silver eyes.

"Give me your bags, we'll put them on Appa. A dragon like him shouldn't have all that baggage, and it'll insure you have to stay with us," Aang's weak voice said behind me. I nodded and let them untie my few bags and sling them on their shoulders.

"I'll create a diversion and you guys can make a run for it," I explained as I mounted Rin.

They nodded and watched as Rin launched himself into the air. It wasn't a long distance to travel considering Zuko's ship was nearing shore already. Rin landed smoothly, his claws clicking as they made contact with the metal ship. I jumped down and waited for Zuko to come out, braiding my hair as I waited. I had let my single, jet black braid fall against back right as Zuko burst out of the main door.

"So you're back. If you're trying to cover for the Avatar you're wasting your time. My men will sweep through that small village, tearing it apart until they find him," he said as he marched towards me.

"Oh dearest brother, don't you know? He's already gone," I said smugly.

"You're bluffing."

I watched as his pace didn't slow until he was inches from my face.

"Well, I'm not. You think they would have accepted a firebender like me? They shunned me and so I've been doing my job elsewhere. I thought I'd check up on you and see what you had planned. I know your little meeting with Zhao, I know he's competing with you like capturing the Avatar is some sort of sport. I know you've been tracking the Avatar, not sure where he's going. I know you know our father wants me brought before him to be charged with theft. I've been tracking the Avatar too, you see. I got here just a smidge too late though. He's gone," I told him in a sly voice.

"How could you have known all this?"

"Maybe Zhao was right, you should keep an eye on your crew."

"Alec?"

"No, he's not a coward and I would never endanger an old friend. Just keep an eye on your crew. Good luck finding the Avatar by the way, he stocked up on supplies and left, won't be landing anytime soon."

"You know where they're going. Don't you?"

He glared hard at me, he had his armor on, he probably wanted to join his men in battle when they tore apart the village or burned it to the ground. I walked away from him at this point only to feel him grab my left wrist. I felt his hand slowly begin to warm up.

"Tell me where they're going," he growled.

"You'll never get to know that way. If I had time to tail them I would have but your presence delayed me. I couldn't have you be so close to them," I answered.

Now his hand was hot make my wrist and hand start to sweat.

"Don't lie to me."

"Zuko, there isn't anything you could do that would make me tell you," I said. I looked him in the eye, my smug smile gone.

My wrist was burning now, making me want to pull away but his grip tightened. I winced.

"Ignacia, there isn't anything you could do to that could change my mind."

"I wouldn't let your boat sit here too long. Have you heard of my new best friend the unogi?"

My skin was defiantly burning at this point but Zuko looked at me confused. I looked at my hand.

"After all these years we've been brother and sister, not half anything, I would go as far as to say friends. You would have a few years back, you did in fact. This is how it ends, a burnt wrist on a war ship," I said.

He let go but didn't change his expression or tone, "A lot has changed since then."

"You found out who I was and that a dragon still lived. If anything has changed it's you Zuko. Because you wanted to please your daddy, because you wanted his love and acceptance. I never did understand that. We all knew what Ozai was like, why would you want to be loved by someone so vile? Iroh was and is a better man than Ozai will ever be," I spat.

"LEAVE!" Zuko blasted flames at me. I parted them around me and mounted Rin.

"I hope you find everything you were looking for," I muttered.

I looked up and saw Appa fly by, his body casting a shadow over the ship. Zuko watched them until they were gone that looked at me, his eyes burning with anger. I dipped my head to him and sent Rin into the air after them, I looked back to see Zuko's ship pulling away from the shore, only to be blasted with a rush of water from my new best friend. I smiled and ushered Rin on, catching up with Appa.

"That was a close one," Aang called to me.

"Yeah, it was," I answered. My voice was hollow.

"If you hadn't done that they would have attacked, wouldn't they have?"

"Yeah, Zuko was in his armor, ready to go when I confronted him."

Aang nodded and faded back into silence, probably tired from his near death experience with the unogi. I looked back at the rest of the gang, Katara was looking at Aang, her face showing concern. Sokka, on the other hand, was smiling like a damn fool with his eyes all misty. Maybe he and Suki had gotten to know each other more than I had thought. He was dressed in the Kyoshi Warrior's outfit, he had the fan, make-up, all of it. I chuckled and looked back ahead. This was little gang wasn't so bad, they seemed to take care of each other well enough, and they all seemed pretty mellow. Well, mellow compared to the people I grew up around, it was just nice to be around people who were considered normal.

"Where are we going next?" I asked.

"A city with its own King, the City of Omashu," Aang hollered.

I raised an eyebrow. The name was unfamiliar to me, it must have been one of those Earth Kingdom cities that's located away from the rest of the cities. Sort of unknown to the Fire Nation. It seemed safe enough I guess.

We stopped for the night at an open field, Sokka and I volunteered to go find some wood, I also just wanted Aang and Katara to have some time alone, some make up time I guess.

"So, you saw Zuko, how's he been?" Sokka asked as we walked away.

A had my palm open with a flame dancing above it, illuminating the night around us.

"Different. Well, not to you I guess. Zuko isn't, or wasn't, such a bad guy. We were close friends once upon a time and now he just wants to please Ozai. I don't hate him, hate is for men like Zhao, I just feel bad for him. The palace is nothing but a living hell if it can change even the purest of hearts. It either changes them or eliminates them," I replied.

"You used to visit the palace often?"

"Yeah, my uncle had business there and I went with him, I just hung around in the garden though."

"I see. For a firebender you aren't so bad," he said with a shrug.

"Oh really? Good to know I have approval from the North Pole's Lone Warrior," I said with a smile.

"Hey, I like that. The Lone Warrior of the South Pole… Yeah!"

"Katara can be your sidekick. The Bender of the South."

"You're a genius! Are you some sort of name generator? Do I have to put a coin in or is there just a button?"

Sokka stopped and started poking me, I just stared at him like he was crazy.

"Uh, Sokka," I started.

"Hold on, I think I found it," Sokka said as he poked my kidney.

I flared the light, making him stop and look at me. He shrugged and kept walking.

"What about this tree?" I asked. It was a little flimsy but we didn't have time to cut down a large tree. Sokka nodded and pulled out his club, removing the rounded rubber part to expose a sharp edge. I kept the light going while Sokka worked away on the tree until it was down. I pulled out Sufferer and cut away the thin branches. It felt good to use at least one of them, it felt like an eternity since I had used them. I sheathed it again and looked at Sokka, he had an arm full of branches. I whistled for Rin who came quickly, I pointed to the downed tree and back to camp. He got the message oddly enough and picked it up with his mouth and flew back. I followed Sokka's example and picked up some branches, though I was forced to extinguish our light. We walked back in the dark which wasn't as bad as I had thought.

"So, what happened between you and Suki?" I finally asked.

"Wha- what do you mean?"

"C'mon. I saw the way you looked after left Kyoshi Island."

"We had a moment before I left, and yeah. We kissed a little."

"Sokka has a girlfriend? What?" I said sarcastically.

"Hey! It isn't that hard to believe!"

"Keep telling yourself that."

Before he could respond we entered camp, driving Sokka into a silence. I placed the branches next to where Rin had set the tree and let Sokka do the rest. I had no idea how do this stuff, I just knew how to start the fire. While we waited for him to built the fire Katara tapped on my shoulder.

"Yeah?"

"Ignacia, we let them know what you did for them before we left. They were really grateful and they gave you some Earth Nation clothes. I put them in one of your bags so you can change into them tomorrow. I hope they fit."

"I do to. Why'd you tell them what I did?"

"Because, if you're going to be erased from history at least some people should know what really happened. Oh, and thanks for snapping me out of my mood back at the Island. I didn't really believe him but I was also angry with him and I didn't care what he did. That was a stupid mistake."

"It's okay Katara, it happens even to the best of us. How's Aang doing since his little flight?"

"He's doing fine, just a little tired but I think he's done with water for a while."

"Just wait till we get to the North Pole, eh?"

"Ignacia, what are you going to do when you get there? Both Poles hate the Fire Nation and firebenders."

"I'll just tell them I'm the Shadow Bender and see how it goes from there."

Katara nodded and leaned against one of Appa's legs. I got to my feet and lit the fire, the white flames becoming darker until they were red. I stared at the campfire for a minute, thinking about the colors of fire. Azula's fire was blue, the hottest flame known to man. What about me though? I was only second to her yet I was the Shadow Bender of Fire, shouldn't I be equal if not more powerful than her? I shook my head. I wish I had some guidance in all this but there was nothing but instinct. Sometimes that's not enough. I took off my swords and leaned them against Rin before using his foreleg as a pillow. Tomorrow we would be heading to Omashu and I would look like a normal citizen of the Earth Nation. Maybe things would go smoothly for a change. Maybe.


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N: Holy crap. I didn't this part would take so long, I guess I have to split this up into two parts. My apologies. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters except Ignacia and Alec, the rest belong to Nickelodeon. **

Omashu towered well above the walls that protected it. If we wanted to, we could have flown in but that would have gotten us some unwanted attention. Instead we were going to do it old school. Walk. To say I was excited about trying my new disguise would be a lie. At least the Earth Kingdom clothes fitted alright, not to tight and not too loose. It was like a beige and green version of the clothes I used to wear, the Kyoshi people were good. As we walked I could see Aang's excitement growing, his old man disguise seeming to fade away.

"Aang, calm down. You're an old man, not a twelve year old now," I whispered.

He nodded and resumed his hunched hobble.

"The people of Omashu are good people, we shouldn't have a problem," Aang said practicing his old man voice.

We looked ahead and saw a cabbage merchant standing before the guards.

"We don't want any of your produce! We only eat real food here in Omashu," One guard shouted in an overly macho voice.

I rolled my eye. Apparently they also took themselves way too seriously here in Omashu too. We watched as another guard earthbended the man's cabbage cart into the deep gorge that surrounded Omashu.

"MY CABBAGES!" He cried.

"Yeah. Great people," I said.

Sokka and Katara glanced at Aang and then to each other. I didn't blame them. All these 'great' places Aang took us always turned out to be some sort of misadventure. I didn't see how this was going to be any different.

"State your business!" Macho Guard ordered with a hovered over us.

I crossed my arms and stared at the man, well, more glared to be honest. Aang used his airbending to run up to the guard and poked him in the chest.

"It's just my grandchildren and I wanting to visit! Do you have a problem with that young whippersnapper or do I have to bend you over my knee and paddle ya?" Aang demanded.

"Wow, wow. Calm down, Old Timer. We just need your name."

"The name's Bonzu. Bonzu Pippinpaddle-Oppsokopolis… the Third," he announced proudly.

I squinted at him for a moment and shrugged, he was a quick thinker. Katara stepped forward and put a hand on his shoulder.

"June Pippinpaddle-Oppsokopolis," She said with a smile.

The only problem I saw with all of this was the simple fact that I didn't look anything like Katara and Sokka, we didn't have the same Nation clothes. Maybe I could pass as a distant cousin of some sort. Macho nodded at the other guards who opened the stone gate that protected Omashu, the movement of stone making the ground shake under our feet. I let Sokka go before me, hoping they could at least make it in if the guards stopped us.

"Hey! Wait a minute!" Macho growled.

We all stopped as he approached me.

"You don't look anything like your siblings," he said squinting at me.

"Ah, so you're a detective now? Huh. You never struck me as one," I said sarcastically, "Well, you caught me. I'm not their sibling. I'm Bonzu's third cousin. I came here seeking refuge," I said more nonchalantly. I held up my burnt wrist to show I had come across a firebender.

He gave me a hard look but nodded.

"One more thing," he growled.

"Must there be?" I said irritated.

"You, young man, you look strong. Carry your grandfather's bag. June, watch your grandfather and cousin, make sure they don't get into any trouble," he ordered.

"Great, we finally found a use for Lee!" I said pointing to Sokka. He glared at me before getting hit with Aang's bag. He did manage to catch it before it touched the ground, grumbling as he slung it over his shoulder. I chuckled as we walked through the stone slabs that served as a gate. We stopped at the platform that overlooked the city, the ground rumbling as the gate closed again. The city was impressive, it was bigger than I had thought. The random peaks of the city were just houses piled on top of other houses. The build and size becoming greater and greater, suggesting it went in order of class. The only drawback of the city was that it smelled oddly enough of peanuts. Not one of the greatest things to have your city smell like if you ask me.

"They actually have buildings that don't melt here," Sokka said in amazement. I raised an eyebrow at him and cocked my head to the side.

"You don't get out much, do you? This city is great though. Well guarded, large, yet under the radar, it doesn't look like they've been attacked once," I muttered.

"You seem like your predicting your next battle. Back there, with the guard, what happened to your wrist?" Katara asked.

I continued to look at the city, "Nothing. Nothing you guys should be worried about anyway."

"Was it Zuko?"

She just wouldn't give up would she? Obviously I didn't want to talk about it.

"Now isn't a good time to be talking about this. Aang, why are we here?" I changed the subject.

"Well, you see those mailing shoots? They use earthbending to get a faster delivery," Aang went on explaining how they worked but I tuned him out.

"They look like giant slides to me," I said when he was done.

"Exactly! My friend Bumi came up with a different way to use them," he said with a smile.

I could see where this was going. I didn't like it.

"Um, Aang, I'm going to take a look around the city. You can take Sokka and Katara to the shoots. I'll meet you guys right here in an hour or so."

Aang shrugged and nodded, walking away with his two victims. I wondered if he knew that Momo was hiding in his fake hair. Who knows how long he's been sticking his ears out like that, I'm sure it was quite a site. I walked down a flight of stairs that took me the ground level of the city, the smell of peanuts beginning to fade. The main reason I declined Aang's kind offer to go ride the shoots was the thought that they were going to get caught and I was going to have to bail them out of jail or something similar to that. I let my eyes wander from left to right and back again and again and again. The ground level was some sort of bazaar area. There were all sorts of shops that lined the streets.

I only browsed though. I wouldn't want to be caught trying to hand them Fire Nation currency, even if it was gold. I also had left my money back with Appa and Rin but as I looked around there were all sorts of people crowding the street. Some were venders advertising their product, others were shoppers bargaining. I smiled to myself, the street rat within me was too strong to resist. I had to do a little pick pocketing, just a little. It was all I did when I managed to get away from the palace, hey, when you aren't wanted you know it and you make the best of it.

By the time I reached the end of the bazaar I had forty copper, twenty-five silver and fifteen gold pieces. Not too bad. I tried to ignore the distant sound of destruction, the sounds of things breaking, crashing and just being demolished in general were getting closer. People were starting to take notice now, just of their wallets disappearing but Aang's little stunt. I acted like a few of the other ignorant people and kept my head straight, maybe on the occasion I'd look around skeptically like I was on the alert for a thief but I kept on my way. Until I ran into the Cabbage Merchant.

"Hey, didn't you get kicked out?" I asked him.

"You were one of those people behind me, weren't you? Well, let's just say Omashu isn't as solid as it appears," he said with a smirk and began to tend to his cabbages again.

I scrunched my eyebrows and looked at him curiously. So, even a cabbage merchant knew about the holes of Omashu, no wonder this wasn't one of the top places on the Fire Nations list.

"MY CABBAGES!" He screamed next to me, a crash sounding above our heads. I looked up in time to see logs cascading down from the shoot above us. My instincts and reflexes acted before my brain did, fire shot out from my right hand in a white jet, turning the woods into broken pieces of charcoal. My blood ran cold as I realized what I had just done.

I turned to the Merchant, putting my hands up, "Before you-"

"FIREBENDER!" He shouted, pointing at me.

"No, no. Listen to me-"

"GUARDS!" He shouted.

I felt the ground around my feet wrap around them, keeping me from moving. My mind was racing as I saw a group of guards running towards me.

"AH!" The Merchant screamed.

I was getting real sick of his voice at this point.

_CRASH!_

I stared at what used to be the Merchant's cabbage cart, in its place were Aang, Sokka, and Katara. More guards came running from a corner of one of the little shops, all of them breathless. I looked back at Aang and his friends, what had they done? I guess they must have been thinking the same thing considering I had about ten razor sharp spears pointed at my neck. We looked at each other, then the guards. We all gave them sheepish smiles but I don't think they were very amused. They put us in stone cuffs and led us to one of the tallest peaks, a large mansion sat at the top.

"Hey, Sokka, think we could get there faster by delivery?" I joked. Sokka stared at me for a minute then started laughing. It was more of a dig at the guards than a joke though, and they caught that much.

They guards let us converse quietly among each other, I tried not to take anymore digs at the guards. Katara and Aang mainly talked about how to explain ourselves, that didn't last very long though. Sokka reminded them that we were surrounded by guards and they could twist our words. We mainly spent the long walk in silence, except the random interruptions from the Cabbage Merchant who followed us. He burst into rants about how we destroyed his beautiful cabbages. By the time he ran out of breath we were entering the mansion, the elegant walls decorated with a soft green mint color. The whole mansion was decorated with different shades of green, the only thing breaking the color scheme were the torches that burned red. A bit of a clash but when you needed light, you didn't worry about style.

When we were presented to the King we were forced to listen to our crimes. Well, a majority of them actually belonged to Aang and his friends but they were a minor compared to my crimes of Conspiracy with the Fire Nation and Spying on the Citizens and Culture of Omashu. I guess when you have a king, there's no need for trials. The King himself looked like he had grown from the rug and hadn't moved from his throne since then. We awaited his words, our punishment. He looked at us thoughtfully, only to be interrupted by the Cabbage Merchant.

"Off with their heads! One for each head of cabbage!"

"Throw them…" the King trailed off for a moment.

"A feast!" He finished.

"WHAT?!" Everyone shouted.

I was mildly surprised, he seemed a little off his rocker but to throw criminals a feast? I shrugged. I hadn't had a decent meal since I left the Fire notation, I was game for this. We watched as they brought a table from another room and began to dress it with all sorts of different foods, but what caught my eye was the meat. Hot and steamy, seasoning still coating the skin. I looked at Sokka who had his eyes on the same thing, only there was a little bit of drool coming down his chin. I nudged him and pointed tapped my chin. He looked down at his own and wiped it away. We were sat across from the King, who still sat in his throne. I felt like I hadn't been to wrong with my assumption about him growing out of the rug.

We were each given a plate full of food, I dug in but used my manners, that's what the palace had done to me. It had turned me into a mannered young woman at the table. I wasn't proud of that though.

"So, Mr. Pippinpaddle-Oppsokopolis, where do you come from?"

"Kangaroo Island," Aang replied cautiously.

"Ah, I hear that place is really hopping," the King replied excitedly.

I paused and smiled, "I see what you did there." I chuckled.

Sokka stared blankly for a minute then started laughing.

"That's a good one!" Sokka said between breaths.

I continued my eating while the rest of the group just stared at the King, they weren't very enthusiastic about the food. I looked at our host's own plate and saw only lettuce on it. Sokka seemed okay with the meat, he was smothering himself with it.

"Don't forget to breathe, Sokka," I said.

"Why don't you try some of the meat?" The King offered Aang.

"No thanks. I don't eat meat," he replied politely.

I looked down at my plate and pushed it away. This guy could make even the most delectable of meals seem unappetizing. I dabbed my mouth with a napkin and put it next my plate, signaling I was done. I looked up and saw the King watching me. I stared him in eye, he turned to Aang.

"You cousin has quite the table manners, Mr. Pippinpaddle-Oppsokopolis. Where as you don't even partake in the feast. Shame," he said. Then, out of his sleeve came a flying drumstick. Aang tensed and caught it with a wind sphere thing. I didn't even know what it was. There was a silence.

"Ah, the Avatar has greeted us with his humble presence. What a pleasant surprise," the King said.

We all stood up started backing away from the table. The guards hadn't confiscated Aang's staff or anger and Sufferer. We could fight our way out.

"Hello, I was just checking for any firebenders, nope. None here. Omashu is clean, c'mon guys we have more towns to clear," Aang said falsely.

"Ah, but there's a firebender to your left, Avatar," the King answered.

"She's a Shadow Bender though," Sokka argued.

"Let us leave!" Katara shouted.

"Let us leaf?" The King mocked as he took another bite of his lettuce.

"Enough of your puns, old man! Keeping us here serves you no benefit," I snarled.

"Or does it? Avatar, tomorrow you will complete three deadly challenges and then you and your friends may leave. Until then, guards, take them to the newly refurbished chamber!"

I'm not about to get into the confusion that last sentence alone brought up. No, just, no. The guards bended open a hole that led to an underground passage. I reached behind my back for my swords. They couldn't do this to us, even if we were all on the same side. I didn't pick sides, I was only there to protect the Avatar, I wasn't a mercenary for hire. I felt a hand grab my wrist, it was Aang. He just shook his head. I sighed and let my hand fall to my side again.

"Wait, I would like to have a word with the Shadow Bender," the King remarked. The guards formed a line behind the rest of the group and led them down the passage. I saw them look back at me, I gave them a weak smile.

"What do you want, old man?" I questioned.

"I'm not… Well, okay, I am old. I just want a word with you, come, walk with me," he rose from his throne, which surprised me, and began to head towards a hall that led behind his throne. I ran to catch up, wondering what he wanted to talk about.

"So, unless you have some sort of evil twin, you aren't Amaya Pippinpaddle-Oppsokopolis. Your twin being Ignacia, wanted for theft of the Fire Lord."

"How did you know that?"

"Twins aren't as uncommon as you think-"

"No, that I was Ignacia."

"I read minds. Or my guards told me, at this point all voices sound the same."

"Um, right. Is that it? That's all you wanted to know?"

"Well, I was hoping you could tell me if you know the secret. The Hidden hold with each generation but since the Avatar went missing so did a few generations of Shadow Benders. I wonder how the secret faired."

"Uh, I'm not totally sure what you're talking about. I have a few secrets but they're personal, not confidential. I'm afraid I don't know the secret."

"Hmm. They say it's the secret of bending the shadows, the fifth element that mere mortals may wield," he said dramatically.

"I always believed it was a myth. Shadows aren't elements, they don't create matter like the other four."

"Ah, but they do. Fear. Well, shade too but that's not important. Without the dark, there is no light. Have you ever heard of the Table of Elements? Grea matter? Eh, don't worry about it. Maybe I'm just a little hazy in my old age."

"More than a little hazy," I muttered.

"What was that?" He challenged.

"Nothing, just saying it happens to the best of us."

"Hmm… Right you are. Now, where was I? Table of Elements. Right. Darkness is just as much of an element as fire or water. It gets real technical but not to worry about that. Just understand that The Hidden all found a way to bend this element to protect themselves and the Avatar, there is a reason they seem to come from nowhere when you least expect it. The last Shadow Bender to understand this disappeared on his search for the Avatar when he first vanished."

"You're saying I should go look for the last place he was seen alive?"

"What? I said he disappeared a hundred years ago, that means no one knows. Sheesh, no one listens these days."

"What are you saying then?"

"That no one listens. Are you deaf or just stupid?"

"No, I meant… Oh never mind. Is there anything else you wanted to ask me?"

"Yes, where did you learn your table manners?"

"Uh. My Uncle worked in the palace back in the Fire Nation and since I lived with him I went with him to work. I mainly hung around the garden but when the Ozai's wife was still around, she would invite me to eat with them. She taught me how to eat properly," I gave him a half truth.

"Ah, I see. That must have been a great honor."

"For most people, I'm sure it was."

"I'm curious, what did you steal after the royal family trusted you for so long?"

"I'm not sure trusted is the right word but I was just taking something back. Ozai was the one who stole it," I answered.

"I see, said the blind man to a deaf dog in a field where no one can hear."

I just stared at him.

"You are a puzzle, Shadow Bender. Well, you should join your friends and get some sleep. I have a feeling you're going to need all the energy you can get."

"What?" I looked at him strangely.

He just smiled as the guards led me away, asking for my swords.

"If I don't get them back tomorrow, you're all toast, literally," I spat at them as I tossed my swords toward them.

The underground passage was lit with a few torches dotted here and there and smelled strongly of damp dirt, not a bad smell, it was like it had just rained. I didn't mind it so much as I had the upper city smell of peanuts. The opened another sheet of stone and pushed me in, closing the opening behind me.

"Hey guess," I announced.

"Ignacia! You're alright?" Katara asked.

"Yeah, he just wanted to talk."

"What about?"

"He knows who I am. He wanted to know if I knew how to bend the shadows. In other words, shadowbending. I don't know if he was just rambling because he had a few screws loose or if he was serious. He told me that darkness was an element. And something about Grea Matter. I don't know what he was rambling about."

"He is a nut job but maybe he had something serious in there," Katara said.

"Yeah, sure, with all his puns I'm sure he's a real serious guy," Sokka muttered.

"Do you think you can use your whistle to call Rin? Just put the end next to one of the air vents," Aang interrupted.

I shook my head.

"Not this far and underground. Sorry Aang."

He looked down and nodded.

"Uh, Aang, do you remember who the Shadow Bender was when you first found out you were the Avatar?"

"Sorta… He was there when the Monks told me but he didn't say anything. If I didn't look at him directly I couldn't see him… Are you saying that he knew how to-"

"Shadowbend? Maybe. Do you know where he came from?"

"Somewhere in the Fire Nation. He didn't seem very friendly… Ignacia, I don't remember much. Sorry," Aang's voice was tense.

I nodded.

"Thanks anyway Aang," I said.

He just looked away and sat on his bed. Did I strike a nerve? Oops.

"We should all get some rest, we have a long day tomorrow," Katara said.

"Okay, mom," I said with a smile. I plopped onto one of the beds and rolled onto my side. It was weird to sleep without a dragon wrapped around me, and having a non-scaly pillow. It was hard to fall asleep, let's just leave it at that.

I fell asleep quickly only to wake up to another dream, I hadn't dreamed in a while so it was a welcomed surprise. I was on a dock, which looked more like a town. I remembered I visited once with Iroh, it was Jang Hui. The water seemed more like actually water though, when I had come it was just a bunch of sludge. The people of the town had been less than friendly and most of them were sick with something from the pollution. It was a happier place now though, kids were running across the board walks chasing each other, trying to avoid running into fisherman. The sun was shining but I still felt cold, it was a strange experience. I looked down the walk I was on and saw a man in his mid thirties looking at me with his amber eyes. He wore black royal robes and had pale skin. His hair was long but he didn't hold any of it in a top knot, he had a look in an eyes that would have made anyone else want to turn and leave him be. He seemed angry, but not at anything in particular.

"You. Are you the Shadow Bender?" He asked.

"Yes. My name is Ignacia."

"Where do you come from?"

"The Fire Nation Capital."

"The palace?"

"Yes, my blood father is Fire Lord Ozai, my mother came from the South Pole, her name was Amaya."

"Yes, I know all about you, I just wanted to test your honesty. The only problem I see is that you call yourself the Shadow Bender yet you know not how to bend the shadows. I've watched each Shadow Bender and seen how they did not even recognize themselves. You know but you did not seek your full potential. My name is Hisoka, the last to bend the shadows."

"Shadow Bender Hisoka, how do I learn to bend the shadows?" I asked politely, formally.

"The king you spoke to was right, darkness is unlike any element. If you don't master it, it will master you. Take care in this craft or you will be lost to it. The first step is to allow yourself to see what hides in the dark. Those reasons you feared the dark as a child, the things you imagined in it, allow your mind to see them. Bring them to life with detail, imagine them as if you were seeing them. Give the face a body. The body a face. This is how to bring out the Fear of Creatures in people."

"I see but to bring out the fear in people, wouldn't you have to know what they fear?"

"You're a quick learner. Practice this using your own imagination. Soon, you will see the shadows flicker, able to see what others see. Use it against them if needed."

"I understand. Step two?"

"Another time. Practice what I have told you. It may come in handy along your way. Be careful, Ignacia," he warned as mist began to fill the gap between us.

I had a new method to add to my list of 'How Not to Wake Ignacia': Kidnapping me.

I awoke to a hand over my mouth, a guard standing over me with a finger to his lips. My hand flung up and punched him the face, he stumbled away, I stood up and saw other guards pulling Sokka and Katara away. I ran after them, Aang didn't appear to be with them, he was still asleep. The ground wrapped around one of my feet, making me fall to the ground. Son of a bitch. The guard picked me up and cuffed my hands with rock. I grunted and felt the ground release my foot, the guard dragging the others and I back through the passage, leading us to the end of a hallway. To a dead end in fact.

"What are you going to do with us?" Katara asked. There was no fear, just anger.

"We aren't your hostages!" Sokka snapped.

"Oh but we are Sokka. It's the only sure way to prevent Aang from attacking and breaking out as he completes the three deadly challenges that the Mad King put together for him," my voice was dark, I glared at one of the guards.

"You can't do this!" Sokka yelled.

"They already have, Sokka," Katara said, her voice was much softer this time.

"Do you mind if a practice my bending while we wait?" I asked.

The guards stared at us in confusion. I don't think they've ever dealt with a group quite like us. They didn't answer my question so I just assumed they didn't know, my version of a yes. The room was dim, not necessarily any shadows but maybe I could make some vague Creatures. I thought back to what I feared as a child. Back in the day I fear Ozai, he was a powerful firebender with no relent, he had found me once, crying. All he had done was chuckle and walk away. Father of the year right there. I imagined him as I had as a small girl, exaggerated height, eyes that had fire for irises. I started with the height. My eye sight started to blur, my gaze focused down the hallway, my gut twisted and churning as a vague robed figure began to walk towards us.

It was a simple mind of matter situation but I still had to remind myself I was creating this Creature, it would be at my command and no else's. I began to add more detail, the long black hair held up with a topknot, the burning eyes, and the sick, twisted smile. Simple enough. I began to add to my new Creature. Fire burned behind him, slowly taking the shape of tentacles. I'll be honest, I didn't know if I was doing a good job or not but I felt good about it. Suddenly, the Creature vanished and I leaned against the cool wall, gasping for breath. Throughout the whole I had forgotten to breathe. Smooth. I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Are you alright, Ignacia?" Katara asked.

"Y-yeah. I just need to remember to breathe the next time I make a Creature," I answered.

"Is that what shadowbending is? Creating monsters from your imagination?"

"It gets more complicated than that, I'm sure but I'm working on it."

"And that Creature… Was that Fire Lord Ozai?"

"Don't be modest, he doesn't deserve the title but yeah, that was how I saw him as a little girl. Now, I see he's not a monster, but a coward."

"Where did you learn how to do it?"

"Hisoka, the last to band the shadows. It's a long story."

"Hey, about yesterday, your wrist. Did Zuko burn you?"

"Small price to pay if it saves a village, right? Don't worry about it Katara, he's not in a good place right now. If you knew him and what he's been through… you wouldn't blame him. My injury will heal but his may never."

"You were really close to him, weren't you?"

"There was a time when we called each other friends, even brother and sister."

"I'm sorry."

"So am I."

"The early bird catches the worm, but it's not your job to eat worms. If it was you should do it in the morning unless your job is to eat too. Then eat the biggest one first," the Mad King shouted as he came down the hall.

What was up this guy? He made sense but no sense all at once. I couldn't keep up with him.

"Do we at least get to watch him complete the challenges?" I asked.

"Even better, you'll also serve as his timers. Oh, this is going to be so much fun!"

"His timers?" Sokka repeated.

"Enough chit chat, it's time to greet the Avatar."

We watched as the Mad King walked towards the dead end, his guards bending the secret door open, then shitting it behind him. Two guards pulled something from their pockets. I was beginning to feel uneasy now.

"Do you guys feel like that King has three out of two screws loose?" I asked.

"If you mean crazy on the verge of psychotic, I know exactly what you mean," Katara nodded.

Sokka leaned against the door and squinted, trying to catch anything that was said. A guard grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him away, the others putting us in a line and gripping our wrists. I wasn't lenient but I didn't full out attack like last time. By this point they had removed the stone cuffs. The panel opened again, Aang was standing across from the Mad King, his eyes a stormy grey now. He started talking to Aang, threatening maybe but I couldn't focus, the world was spinning around me, a wave of nausea washing over me. Had I pushed myself too far? By the time I focused in again a guard placed a glowing yellow ring that looked like it was made of rock. As I watched it tightened and grew an inch up my finger. It all made sense now, we were his timers, he had to complete the challenges before the rock covered us. I balled my hand into a fist and let it grow. It would make a great gauntlet.

The first challenge consisted of the King's laziness to get his own key for his lunch. I don't when a King ever used a lunch box but he wasn't like most kings to begin with. The key was suspended from a chain, under a waterfall, over dozens of stalagmites. I think it was a bit overboard but so was the King's new outfit that was a purple version of the green gown he was wearing yesterday. Just the walk from the hallway to the challenge had allowed the rock to grow up to our elbow, I couldn't move my hand anymore. I widened my stance and socked a guard in the face, the rock taking the full impact. The guard laid at my feet, unconscious. Maybe this rock wasn't such a bad idea, for now. I jumped back before they could cocoon me in rock.

"Not this again. Firebender, it is foolish to fight, how are you going to find your way out? Find your swords?" The King chastised.

I knocked out another guard and looked at him, he had a good point. I stopped and lined up again next to Katara, my jaw clenched. I didn't like this situation in the least. This is what happened whenever we stopped at one of Aang's side trips, nothing but trouble. I didn't blame him for wanted to see how the world had changed but at the same time he needed to know you couldn't do whatever you wanted anymore. The consequences are too big now. I closed my eyes and waited painterly for Aang to finish, the rock creeping up my arm. After a few minutes of taunting and teasing from the King, I heard a large THUNK.

I looked up and saw a stalagmite or stalactite, I couldn't tell the difference, sticking out of the rock above us, the key dangling a few inches above our heads. I smiled.

"GO AANG!" Sokka cheered. Katara and I let out whoops of joy.

"I wouldn't get too excited yet. He still has to face two more deadly challenges. We shall see how much luck he has," the Mad King snorted as he laughed.

I sighed and rolled my eyes. This was all just a waste of time, we all had more important things to do and this guy was just holding us back. The king led us down another hallway, the rock creeping up our shoulders now.

"Does it hurt?" Aang asked us.

"No, not at all," Katara answered in a soft voice.

"My arm is going numb," Sokka complained.

"We're fine. Just complete the challenges. You had the first one in the bag, now all you need to do is finish the other two, those shouldn't take you long either," I said nonchalantly.

Aang let out a shake breath and looked down at his feet as we walked. I let my eyes wander from boring wall to boring wall. There wasn't anything to liven up the place, no paintings, no coat of arms, just green walls with the Earth Kingdom flag spaced every couple of meters. I sighed. At least, I hoped the other two wouldn't take too long.


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N: I'm really bad at this, but thank you to BowTies23, war sage, and Nickel531 for the reviews! =) I did realize I needed to stray away from the story line, I didn't want to drag the readers through the series part for part. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own these characters beside Ignacia, Alec, and Rin, the rest belong to Nickelodeon. **

"Azula?" Zuko's voice quaked.

I couldn't tell if it was with fear or nervousness, or anger. Could have been a mixture of all three for all I knew. Right, well I suppose I should explain what I'm doing on Zuko's ship. Guess who found out how to travel through shadows by accident? Don't make fun of me, you should have seen the guards face when I tripped and fell into the shadow portal thing. Of all the places I could have teleported, a tropical island preferably, I was stuck on Zuko's ship right in the middle of something I probably shouldn't have been. I plastered myself against the steel wall, the yellow rock seemed to have melted away when I fell through the shadow.

"Ah, Zu-Zu, aren't you happy to see me?" She cooed.

From my point of view I could see Azula walk in a slow circle around him. Us three stood in the upper most part of the bridge, even inside the smell of salt burned your nose. I watched Azula pace around Zuko's exaggerated straight pose.

"What do you want?" He spat.

"Such a harsh response, I thought you had missed me."

Their amber eyes met, Zuko had angry expression, as he always did. Azula pouted for a moment before she rolled her eyes and turned her back to Zuko, her eyes wandering as she looked throughout the room.

"I tried to be civil but I guess that's not our family's, 'style'. Father sent me to ask about Ignacia, she escaped and we all know how close you were to her, we thought you might know where she is."

"If anything she left, she's not an animal that escaped from the zoo. I didn't know she had left, not until I saw her wanted poster," he bluffed.

I cocked my eyebrow, one minute he's burning my hand off, the next he's defending me? This family was too complicated, if you could adopt a family like you could a kid, I would have done that long ago. Azula turned and smiled at him, a smile we both recognized, she knew Zuko was lying to her.

"How about the other one? What was his name? Alec? All three of you were pretty close, maybe she confided in him?" Her words were sown finely but the stitches were still visible.

"That was a long time ago, Azula. Alec works inside the ship, it would be impossible for them to have met," Zuko finished speaking and locked his jaw.

Now he was defending Alec too? What sorcery was this?

"You haven't even seen her traveling with the Avatar? No Shadow Bender simply neglects their duties."

Zuko's eye widened, "How-"

"There's more connections to the Fire Nation than you would believe," she put a hand on her hip.

"Then what do you want from me? If you already knew where she was, why come to me?" Zuko challenged.

"Because she's weak and she'll come back to you and Alec eventually. When she does Father wants you to buy her forgiveness and then capture her. The Avatar won't let a companion go, he'll come after you and all you have to do is lead him to the Fire Nation. You'll be a hero," she finished in a silky voice, returning to pace around him, a finger running across his shoulder.

He walked away from her, his head down and his arms crossed. I rolled my eyes. Another manipulation gone successful for Azula. Zuko started nodding, his back still to Azula. I crept up behind her, my arms crossed.

"Wait, wait. What happens to me after you get the Avatar?" I complained.

Both of them whipped around, I smiled.

"I didn't mean to intrude, I just felt so left out on this meeting of kin."

Azula shot out a fist at me, I quickly used my right hand to block it to the side, twisting her arm and pushing her away. Zuko came at me from the side of my eye. I ducked past him and ran to the door, opening it and doing what anyone else would do, I ran my ass out of there. I ran down the hall, my footsteps echoing on the metal, Zuko and Azula's soon joining mine in a chorus. I was hoping to turn down a corridor, disappear into another shadow and call it a close one but instead the ground swallowed me. Not literally, I fell into a shadow, again.

I looked around and saw dozens of Fire Nation men working, most of them were just shoveling coal into their individual stocks trying to meet the command with the needs to perform. I scanned the area, Alec had to be working. I skirted from shadow to shadow, trying not to draw any attention to myself. A hand wrapped around my mouth as I was dragged into a room, the door shutting as my kidnapper turned me around.

"Ignacia?! What the hell are you doing here?" Alec whispered harshly.

"I've been wondering the same thing for some time now. Well, maybe just a few minutes. It wasn't my idea to come here," I said nonchalantly.

"What?"

"Okay, I was walking, just like any other person would be doing with a yellow rock that grew on their arm would do, and I fell into a shadow and ended up in the bridge with Zuko and Azula. She was twisting and contorting his mind, you know how she does, and I stepped out of the shadow I had been warped to and spooked them. They reacted violently and I ran, fell into another shadow-teleporter-hole thing and was down here."

He squinted at me, his brow furrowed.

"Okay, so I have a lot of explaining to do but I'm not sure we have time for that, Azula or Zuko or both will come looking for me, even down here," I answered.

"So you can bend the shadows?" He asked simply.

I nodded, "Yeah, in different ways. I'm figuring it out but right now I would prefer if you went back out there and worked until someone notices you're missing. Especially if that person happens to be Azula and or Zuko."

He sighed and nodded in agreement.

"I'll be back when they decide everything is clear. Don't go anywhere, I want to talk to you," he said as he left.

I looked around the room, it wasn't a room, it was an office really. There was a desk with a candle holder on it, no candle. I summoned a white flame to my hand and searched the desk, there was nothing in it. I looked up at the ceiling, it had no solid covering, just pipes that carried steam or something of the like. My half siblings wouldn't leave any stone unturned, they would come in here eventually. I climbed on the desk and jumped, my right hand gripping onto a thin pipe that groaned at my weight. Grabbing it with both hands a swung my body until my legs wrapped around a larger pipe, this wasn't as hard as I had imagined. Now, hanging upside down was fun and all but it was a little obvious. I sat up and laid on the pipe, hoping my arms couldn't be seen from below. The door slammed open.

"She couldn't have just escaped. She's has to be somewhere on this ship," Azula barked.

"Well, how do you think she got on the ship in the first place? Much less the bridge where we were," Zuko challenge, his footsteps echoing as he checked under the desk.

"She had to have been there originally, think Zuko, no one just appears!" She hissed at him as they left, slamming the door.

I let out a sigh of relief. Did they really think I was so uncreative that I would cower under a desk? Ugh. Whatever, at least they were gone. I slid off the pipe, landing on my toes as too eliminate the amount of noise. I sat on the desk cross-legged and waited for Alec to return. The air was thick with heat combined with sea air, it was also an interesting smell. Could warm salt be an accurate description? Yes? No? I don't care, that's what I'm calling it. I thought about what I would tell Alec, would I tell him about Hisoka? Omashu? Wait. Omashu! I had completely forgotten about the gang, they had to be on the third challenge if not just finishing the second. The door creaked slowly as Alec snuck inside, I lit the room with a flame.

"So, you had some questions?" I asked.

"Yeah, what the hell were you thinking stealing from the Fire Lord?" He spat.

I winced at his viciousness, I hadn't been expecting it.

"You know what he took from me, Alec. I wanted back what was mine. I had and still don't have any intention of going back to the Fire Nation, I intended to leave with _all_ of my belongings."

"When we were younger I always admired your bravery but now I don't know if that was the bravest thing you have ever done or the stupidest."

"Why are you so bitter? I missed you and Zuko since the day you guys left, I was probably the only one. To find out you guys turned out the way you did… I'm not sure what to do. I'm trying my hardest and all you can do is call my actions on the borderline of stupidity. Thanks for all the support, asshole," I grumbled as I stood up from the desk.

"Ignacia, wait. I didn't mean it like that, I just don't like the fact that you're in the top ten most wanted in the Fire Nation. It makes me worry, I don't want to lose another friend to the Fire Lord," he said with a sigh.

I gave him a long look, rolled my eyes and hugged him. His huge arms wrapped around me, squeezing me until I couldn't breathe. I smacked him and squirmed, he laughed and let me go.

"I should go before I cause any more trouble," I said, I started walking towards a corner in the room.

"Wait," Alec grabbed my wrist.

I paused and looked at him but he was looking at my wrist, the one Zuko had burnt.

"Ignacia, who… Did Zuko-"

"Yeah, he did. He's losing his mind trying to find the Avatar. You know what he did though? When I was in the bridge, listening to Azula and him talk, he defended us. It's strange but I think there's still something good in him, somewhere."

"Somewhere deep down. Somewhere where it only comes up if his pot of emotions is stirred," he muttered as he let go of my wrist.

I nodded.

"Anyway, I was going to ask when I would see you again," he said.

"Whenever I manage to figure this teleporting thing out," I answered with a smirk.

He smiled and nodded. I stepped backwards and felt the ground give way. I fell, and fell, and fell a little more until I smacked into something hard beneath me. I groaned and sat up, my back aching.

"Ignacia?" I heard Katara's voice from somewhere… above me?

I looked up and saw a balcony where two gem covered figures stood. I looked around and saw I was in an arena filled with dirt and rocks, for earthbenders. I looked down and saw I sitting on an overly muscular old man. I grimaced and stood, looking at Aang who had his staff raised but with a strange look on his face.

"Oh man… Sorry for coming out of the ceiling. That wasn't planned," I mumbled as I waddled off to the side. I paused. Was that disgustingly muscular old man the Mad King? I whipped around and stared at him as he pulled himself up off the ground.

"Warn us before you fall from the sky, eh? I should count that as cheating but I'll let it slide for now," he grumbled to me.

I shrugged and sat against the arena wall, watching as their battle continued for another minute. Even though it was a life endangering moment for Aang, who I was suppose to protect, I watched the battle with glazed eyes. I didn't pay much attention, I was just trying to figure out the whole shadow teleportation method. Did you just walk into a shadow with a destination in mind or was there something more to it? All I wanted to do was focus on creating monsters, it seemed simpler but at the same time I didn't want to fall into a shadow and end up in Ozai's throne room. I sighed and felt a spray of rocks hit my face as a boulder smacked into the wall just to my right. I glanced up and watched as Aang held his staff to the Mad King's throat while he himself held a boulder above their heads. A tie. The king threw the boulder to the side, fell back into the earth and came up on the balcony, Aang bended up to the balcony.

"I see how it is," I grumbled. _Don't worry about me, I'll just run into walls hoping I can teleport up there, _I thought. I was already in a shadow where I sat, maybe I could lean back and concentrate on the balcony? I stared at it, one area in particular, then I fell back and tumbled out in front of Sokka and Katara.

"And she sticks the landing," Sokka mocked as I got to my feet.

"I'll push you over," I threatened.

He scooted away from me a few inches, I smiled.

"One more challenge and I'll set you and your friends free," the king said.

"I completed all of you challenges, you said if I completed them we'd be free," Aang spat at him.

An angry Aang? That happened almost never.

"Ah, but this isn't a deadly challenge is it? Answer this simple question: What… is my name?" He laughed, "You better hurry, from the look of your friends you only have a few minutes."

He walked away, leaving us in peace.

"Think Aang, maybe the challenges are a puzzle," Katara said.

"I had to get his lunch box key, save his pet, and then fight him," Aang said, his eyes downcast as he thought.

"Oh! I go t it! Rocky. You know, because he's and earthbender!" Sokka announced proudly.

I stared at him, "That's the most thinking you've done in a long time, isn't it?"

"That's a good guess and we'll keep it as an alternative," Katara told her brother.

"Each challenge forced me to think outside the box, not the way I would usually handle things," he paused, "I know his name."

The guards guided us back to the throne room, we talked as we walked.

"What happened back on the way to the second challenge?" Aang asked me.

"Yeah, one minute you were there, the next you flailed your arms and disappeared," Sokka said.

"I fell into a shadow and wound up in the bridge of Zuko's ship. I think I discovered how Shadow Benders seemed to appear from nowhere. I guess I can travel by shadows, like teleporting almost. I don't understand how quite yet, I barely got back up to that balcony."

"What about the crystal stuff that was growing on your arm?" Katara asked.

"It disappeared when I went through the portal shadow thing."

"And you showed up on Zuko's ship?" Aang asked.

"Yeah, right in the middle of a conversation between Zuko and his sister Azula. I wouldn't worry about it though, she was just trying to control him again. She would manipulate him all the time when we were kids, it isn't a surprise she was doing it again. Their conversation was meaningless, I just interjected, ran, and found an old friend. His name is Alec, he hid me and we talked a little before I came through the ceiling during the third challenge," I explained.

"Are you sure you can trust Alec?" Sokka asked skeptically.

"Yes, Sokka, he was a childhood friend. Don't worry about him, or Azula for that matter. If Azula was trying to get Zuko to do her dirty work then she isn't motivated enough to come after us. She has too much competition between Zhao and Zuko, she's cunning but lazy unless she sees something in it for herself."

We entered the throne room, the king was waiting for us and unlike before, he wasn't sitting in his throne. He had his eyes locked on Aang, a sly smile on his face.

"Well?" He inquired.

"Like you said so many years ago, I had to open my mind to the possibilities. I missed you Bumi," Aang said as he hugged him.

What? How old did that make this king? A hundred and twelve, give or take a year. How did anyone even live that long? Aang, of course, was frozen in an iceberg, but how…? I shook my head, it explained why the king was so strange, he had probably lost his mind years ago, or he never had it in the first place.

"I missed you too, and you haven't changed a bit, literally," Bumi mused as he looked at Aang.

"Um, what about us?" Sokka asked, his voice muffled.

"Oh right," he said. He broke their colorful caskets with earthbending, picked up a fragment and bit off a piece.

"It's rock candy," he explained, the sound of his chewing led me to believe that he was breaking his teeth with every bite. Speaking of teeth, how could he be so aged and have strong teeth? Was it just dentures or did he just take really good care of himself? I looked at his overly muscular body, yeah, he took care of himself and he aged well. That's my finally conclusion of this crazy, whack job king.

"So, Aang, where are we off to next?" I asked.

He smiled at me, "The North Pole."

We left Omashu on a happy note, for the most part, it wasn't until miles away from it we realized we had forgotten to stock up on food. We had a few rations left but that would only last us so long. With the vastness of the Earth Kingdom it would take us a while to find any other villages, that and we didn't have a map. We were looking at it when Sokka and I got into a fight, the wind kindly ended it by taking the map. We were now blind. We finished off the rations that night, Sokka said he would go scavenging in the morning. We had stopped in an open clearing surrounded by trees that had very few branches. Rocks and dirt took up most of the space anyway. I curled up next to Rin and closed my eyes.

"Hello again, Ignacia," Hisoka greeted in a flat tone. For such a phrase that was usually said happily, he seemed like he had just been handed a pair of knitted socks for his birthday. We were back in Jang Hui.

"Shadow Bender," I said dipping my head.

"Did you try and create a Shadow Creature?"

"Yes, it took a lot out of me but soon afterwards I fell into a shadow and appeared somewhere I shouldn't have been," I explained.

"Ah, Shadow Travel. Many had trouble with that, and others never mastered it completely. Understand that you cannot travel anywhere where you have not been. The key to actually traveling is to keep your destination in mind and simply will the shadows to pull you in. Have you ever noticed the darkness drawing around you? Seeming to grow and stretch? Let it take you in, it will obey any command you give it. It challenged many Shadow Benders because they did not want to be who they were, they believed it alienated them from the society they wanted so badly to be a part of and so they fought the shadows. Do you understand?"

I nodded, it was strange to think that anyone would want to be a part of such a twisted and cruel world. I was happy to be set apart from it. Why would the spirits choose those who were not able to master all of the aspects of shadowbending then? I looked at Hisoka, he looked like he was still in his prime, so had did he pass?

"Hisoka, how did you die? Your and Aang's age difference doesn't match either," I remarked.

"Foolish of you to think that. He and I were the same age, but when he vanished I aged. I spent my the rest life searching for him, all twenty-six years of the rest of my life. The rest were robbed from me by the Fire Nation, they took my life away because I proved to be too much of a threat to them. Now, I want you to work on Shadow Traveling and creating Shadow Creatures, you will not see me until you master those. Understood?"

I nodded. He just stared at me for a minute and walked away, disappearing into the thickening mist. I blinked open my eyes, squinting against the rays of the sun. I groaned and got up, strapping my swords on, that the king had so kindly returned to me, and looked around. Katara and Aang were stirring as well, Sokka had left to go 'scavenge'. The day was sunny but still chilly, as winter days were. I looked at Rin, his silver eyes were open but he looked at me lazily. I smiled and patted the tip of his snout.

"I hope Sokka gets back soon, I'm hungry," Aang said groggily.

Katara and I nodded in agreement.

I looked at the shadow of a branch, it reminded me of a tentacle. I started moving my fingers on my right hand in random twitching movements, the shadow starting to take the shape of a tentacle. The tentacle shifting and squirming now.

"You're getting good at that," Katara said.

Momo's tail flicked back and forth next to it. Using my left hand to guide it, I clenched my right hand into a fist, the tentacle wrapping around his tail. He shrieked in terror, I let the shadow fade, taking its place under the tree again. I smiled.

"Aw, I'm sorry Momo, come here," I beckoned him.

Momo hissed as me and sat on a large rock, his back to me. I laughed and noticed Sokka in the distance. When he got closer he threw a sack down next to and us opened it.

"I found some round nuts, some oval ones and some that look like rocks and might actually just be rocks," he said tossing one to the side.

"Uh, you're joking right?" Katara said picking one of the round nuts up and looking at him.

"I thought when you said 'scavenge', you meant hunting. You know, meat," I muttered.

"Well, none of this would have happened if we still had the map," he looked at me.

"That wasn't my fault butterfingers," I poked him in the chest.

"Butterfingers?! I wouldn't be talking if I were you, hothead!" He retorted.

**_BOOM!_**

We stopped and looked around.

"What was that?" Katara asked.

"Let's not wait to find out," I said, running towards the noise.

"Ignacia!" She called.

**_BOOM!_**

It sounded again. In the distance I heard Sokka shout something about running away not towards loud noises. I ignored him and came to a stop behind a log, the rest of the gang joining me a few moments later. Just ahead of us there was a young man with dark brown hair, he seemed fairly young but still older than Katara, maybe my age. From the looks of it he was earthbending. He picked up a boulder, turned around, and thrust his right hand forward and his left back sending the boulder crashing into the side of a dirt wall.

"If he's out here, then there must be a village nearby. Maybe we should ask him," Katara whispered.

"We should approach with caution, we don't know what his intentions are," Sokka said.

"Hi there!" Katara said happily.

"Katara!" Sokka snapped.

I looked at Aang and shook my head, this was bad.

The earthbender looked at Katara and backtracked. He spun around and sprinted off, sending a wall of large rocks to block our path.

"He must be heading back to his village, we should follow," I said.

"Over the wall of rocks?" Aang said.

"Looks like we're going to have to," said Sokka.

I looked at Katara, her face was crestfallen. I sighed, it wasn't her fault. There was a reason the man had fled, especially if he lived in a village. It was something the Fire Nation had been doing for years now, afraid that a revolution of earthbenders would take them down. The man had simply run because of his own talents.


	8. Chapter 7

**A/N: Filler chapter, don't hate me.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, except those that I have named previously, the rest belong to Nickelodeon.**

After goat scrambling over the pile of rocks we followed the earthbender through his village, discreetly but it depends on your definition of discreet. At one point Aang just stopped and traded the nuts Sokka had gathered for a hat. Well, if we couldn't get any food here we were going starve today. Thanks, Aang.

"How does it look?" he asked.

"At least it covers your arrow," I said with a sigh.

"Guys! I found him!" Katara pointed to the earthbender as he walked into a little shop.

"Maybe he sells food, let's go," I said.

"I worked hard for those nuts! Eh, I hate them to," Sokka grumbled.

"Yeah, the nuts Aang traded for the hat?"

"You sold them for the hat?" He looked at Aang.

Aang shrugged, "I thought we were going to get food here."

Katara hushed us as we walked into the shop.

"You're late again, Haru," an older woman said to him.

"I'm sorry, I just got caught up-" he started.

"He was just earthbending, no harm in that, right?" Aang interjected.

I put a hand over his mouth and shut the door, the older woman closed the blinds and looked at her son.

"You were earthbending! Haru, you know that's not allowed!"

"Do you really believe them? Look at the way they're dressed!" He argued.

All of us looked down at ourselves, I forgot I currently looked like a typical Fire Nation teenager, I didn't think we would see anyone so I wore my old cloths. My mistake, now I knew why she was being so hard on her son and eying me with a wary eye.

"You know that's forbidden though!" She chastised.

"Why can't he earthbend? That's like telling me not to waterbend, or telling my friends not to bend. It's in our nature, it's part of who we are," Katara spoke passionately.

"Is she a firebender?" The woman pointed to me, I didn't see anger but fear instead. I would have preferred to have seen anger. Anger meant she hadn't lost hope and that she still believed something would change.

"Listen, I'm not part of the whole mess of the Fire Nation. I promise, I know what goes on here and I'm not proud of it. It makes me sick. I think of it this way though, the Fire Nation isn't full of cocky bastards, but rather, cowards. That's why they lock up all the earthbenders in these small villages, they're afraid they won't be able to control an uprising," I explained quickly.

"Quiet! You don't want the guards to hear you," the lady warned.

At least she believed me.

"She's right though, those guards are cowards," Haru spat.

"Enough!" His mother shouted at him.

There was a knock at the door making us all pause. Sokka barely opened the blinds and peered out, "Fire Nation guards, act natural."

I wandered over to a shelf and looked at it curiously, hoping they couldn't see my face. When the woman opened the door they barged in.

"Taxes have doubled, we need the extra money to cover it," he said.

"But we already paid it."

I watched from the side of my eye as the lead guard started playing with fire, "Fire, it's so hard to control, we wouldn't want an accident, would we?"

I rolled my eyes, I was done with this guy. I broke away from the shelving and looked at him, he looked at me and smiled. A smile like I should have been laughing at her fear.

"If you're going to play with fire, you're going to get burned," I growled at him.

He laughed and approached me, "Are you really trying to defend these people? Don't you see? They're nothing but dogs, they slave away and we reap the income. They're working to help us win this war."

"Us? No, just you and every other pig in that Nation who sees bloodshed, pain, and misery as some sort of joke. You're a guard, you're not in the frontlines, you don't know what a war is."

"Yeah, and you would know?"

"I've seen what it leaves behind, what it takes away, everything it leaves behind. You see, I'm not at the head of the battle, I'm in the very back but that is still closer than you will ever be," I was inches from his face now.

I reached into my money pouch and handed him about ten gold pieces of Fire Nation currency, "You forget about their taxes. Understood?"

He looked at me quizzically, "Who are you?"

I shook my head, "It doesn't matter. Just take your money and go."

The guard nodded and led his men out. I shook my head, they were worse than pigs, they were the dirt stuck to the pigs hoof.

"What was that?" Sokka asked me.

"Guards think they're so much better than everyone else but they'll never see what they believe in. This war has taken so much from so many, I just wasn't going to let them continue their tyranny. The money I gave them was theirs to begin with, I was just returning it," I said with a grin.

"That was kind of you. You were right about the war, it took Haru's father, years ago. Him and all the other earthbenders in the village. They hold them in a metal prison that sits on the ocean miles away. I don't know what I would do if they took Haru as well," the woman said.

Haru looked to the side, he clearly resented the Fire Nation for what they had done. I looked over at Katara who looked down, her previous words seemed rather bold now. The woman looked at us and smiled.

"I must know your names, you've done us a great kindness and if you have nowhere to stay, you are welcome with us."

We each introduced ourselves, I was surprised when neither of them recognized Aang as the Avatar, maybe word hadn't spread quite as quickly as I had thought. Knowing Ozai, he wouldn't want word to spread either, it would give the people hope. Aang and Katara left with Haru and his mother to their house, Sokka and I stayed to get food and anything else we needed.

"You've had a pocket full of money this whole time?!" Sokka exclaimed.

"Fire Nation currency, not something I want to be caught with in my Earth Kingdom attire. If a guard caught me like that, it wouldn't be pretty."

"So was your Uncle filthy rich? Rich enough that he wouldn't miss that money?"

"Yeah, besides, he knew I was a Shadow Bender. He was happy that I had left, the Fire Nation palace is a hell on earth."

"Really?"

"No one in that family was normal, except Ozai's wife. She was a great woman, very kind too. Zuko is, or rather, was a lot like her. When she disappeared everything went downhill, everything and everyone."

Our conversation came to a pause as we purchased some salted meat, some vegetables, and even a loaf of bread.

"Back when you and the guard had that standoff, you really seemed to know what you were talking about. You know what the war took from us but what did it take from you?" Sokka asked. It was one of those times where he seemed genuinely curious, not goofy or hardnosed.

"Nothing I've really mourned. It took a cousin I hardly knew and that's about it. I've seen what it has taken away though, Haru's father, you and your sister grew up without a father, the woman in your village are without husbands, and Aang lost all of his people. Just because I haven't lost anything doesn't mean I can't see the pain it brings."

We were walking back to the little house now, Aang had managed to get both Appa and Rin into their barn.

"I see your point there. Our father fights in the war with the other men but he holds something against them. All three of us do, I don't know if Katara will ever mention it because she was especially close to our mother. The Fire Nation raided our village and they took our mother from us," Sokka's voice was low and leveled.

"I'm sorry, that must have been awful," I softened my voice, something I rarely did.

"You said you lost your mother too though, you know what it's like."

"No, I don't. I never knew my mother, I don't have a single memory about her. You have memories though, you felt her touch, knew her voice, you're lucky even if the time was short. I know the loss must have much harder though."

Sokka put a hand on my shoulder, it was only for a brief second but it still had an impact. We walked the rest of the way in silence. We came into the barn and saw Aang trying to herd Appa away from the hay.

"Appa, you can't eat all of their hay!" Aang told him.

I smiled and leaned against Rin, he rumbled and shifted so his head was next to me. I rested my hand on him and rubbed the smooth scales on the top of his head, his eyes slowly closing. I sighed and closed my eyes too.

"Hey, Aang, where'd Katara go?" I asked.

"Oh, she and Haru went on a walk or something. I wouldn't worry though, she hasn't been gone long," he said.

I nodded and felt the rays of the sun on my face as it started to set. Sokka and Aang talked about something, I don't know what it was; I fell asleep. I don't know if this group was just bad luck or I was really irritable, the next thing I woke up to was Katara's frantic voice.

"They took Haru at midnight, the old man he saved turned him in."

I sat up and groaned, "What old man?"

"Last night the mine shafts collapsed and trapped an old man, Haru was brave enough to use his earthbending to save him but last night he turned him in," she explained.

"You wanna go save him?" I asked as I stood up and stretched.

"Yes, I do," she answered.

"Katara, that's too dangerous. How would you get arrested anyway?" Sokka asked.

"They're going to arrest me for earthbending," her voice evened out and she sounded determined.

Sokka must have known there was no changing his sister's mind, he just sighed and looked at her.

"Is there any ventilation shafts around the mines?" He asked Katara, she nodded and he continued, "We could roll a boulder over one of them and have Aang bend enough air into another vent to lift it up. We just need someone to report you," he looked at me.

"The guards know me but if I complained there was a fight going on that needed to be stopped, I'm sure they would give it a look," I answered.

Sokka nodded, "Give us about twenty minutes to set up then bring the guards to us. The fight is a good idea, Katara and I can run into each other and start fighting."

Sokka was a doof but he had a good plan. They left and I headed into the heart of the village, keeping an eye on the guards who just sat outside and gambled with dice. I adapted to my name and hid in the shadows, no one even glanced my way. After about fifteen minutes of waiting I came out from my hiding spot and walked up to the guards, the one guard recognized me.

"Come to tell me more about the war I'm not fighting in?" he challenged.

I rolled my eyes, "No, there's a fight out by the mines. A boy and girl and things are getting bad, I was just thinking you should do your job as guards and go keep the peace."

"C'mon, boys, let's go check out this fight."

They got up and waited for me to show them where it was. I had an idea of their location, sort of. We walked in silence for a while.

"So how does someone like you end up here?" He asked me.

"Traveling, trying to get away," I answered bluntly.

"Arranged marriage?" He guessed.

Arranged marriages weren't common in the Fire Nation but they were usually used for political gain. My clothes did suggest I was of higher class, so it didn't come as a surprise then when he came to that conclusion. I was just going to roll with it.

"How did you know?"

"You knew quite a bit about the war, had a strong opinion, your clothes aren't low class, you have plenty of money and yet you're in an Earth Kingdom village. Makes sense, you know?"

I nodded and didn't say anything. I would have thought that my wanted poster had reached them, guess not. After a couple of minutes we came up to Katara and Sokka who bumped into each other. I watched as they put on a cheesy performance, Katara ranting on about Sokka having large ears. I didn't think the guards were going to buy it, especially after Katara's first attempt to 'earthbend' failed. When it finally did work, the guards watched in awe.

"The lemur is earthbending!" One of them exclaimed.

Sokka and I looked at them and in unison shouted, "No you idiots! It's the girl!"

They laughed momentarily at their own foolishness before arresting Katara, Sokka whispered in her ear before they got to her. We watched as they took her, the cart bumping on the road.

"Momo has big ears," Sokka grumbled.

I rolled my eyes, "Okay, so now Katara goes to the prison on the ocean. What do we do?"

Aang looked at Sokka, he had been really quiet today, I wasn't sure why though.

"We follow her. I was thinking that if you had mastered your shadow teleporting thing, you could get onto the rig with her. You'd have to stay hidden though," Sokka said.

"I need to get a good look at the rig, find out where the deepest shadow is. I can't just appear somewhere I haven't been," I explained.

He nodded. I called Rin with my whistle while Sokka and Aang went to get Appa. Once in the air, I used the thick clouds to hide. We snaked through the sky, the sun already beginning to dip below the horizon. Sokka and Aang pulled up next to me on Appa, the ship was slower than either of our pets.

"I'm going to go ahead and check out the rig. I'll go ahead and get onto the rig if I find a good spot, Rin will come to you guys with an empty saddle," I told them and pulled ahead.

The rig was monstrous, stacks rose from it, black smoke flowed from them like ink spilling out of a bottle. I sighed, I would prefer to take the guise of a guard. I could watch over Katara and get a feel for whoever the warden was. The only problem was that I didn't want them to find the unconscious body of the guard. I guess I would have to do what Sokka said and just hide in the shadows, I could still find out who the warden was though. If Katara was going to free Haru I needed to know how hard that was going to be.

I circled it for a second time and saw a shadow growing in the corner of the open prison. One smoke stack was taller than the rest, its shadow reached into the water. I had to be out of my mind, desperate, or a genius. For whatever reason, I jumped. I stared at my target, the shadow engulfed me. I didn't even hit the water, there was no splash, nothing. I now stood in the corner of the prison, the prisoners sat in different groups talking. I noticed Katara standing on a table, her face crestfallen. I saw an older man call down to her, I assumed he was the warden.

"Foolish girl, you thought a few inspirational words would get them to rise? Look at them, they are hopeless. Broken, discouraged. There is nothing left for them," he said as he laughed and walked away.

I watched him go, he seemed a bit egocentric and proud. I needed a way to let Katara know I was here, maybe I could send a Shadow Creature? I concentrated on a small part of the shadow I was in, I shaped it with my hands like a potter would with clay and sent it to Katara. She sat down next to an older gentleman and Haru, I hope she didn't get squeamish with frogs. She looked down at it and looked around, I made the frog come back, my right hand starting to cramp from the odd shape of the frog. She looked at me and nodded. I let the shadow take me in again and chose a spot above the prison, from there I followed the warden. He spoke to his guards in a harsh manner, like they weren't any better than his prisoners. It was a shame he thought that because there wasn't anything that separated them from him besides a suit of armor. Even then he wasn't the one with armor. I grew bored of his down talk and used the shadow to send me to Zuko's ship. This was Katara's mission, not mine and I would be back before her last few hours were up. I was in the bridge again but only the captain was in there. I scooted past him and left through the open door. Zuko must have gone to his room already, I headed towards it. I vaguely remembered it from when Aang had burst from it and knocked me down. I knocked on the door and heard a long sigh from inside.

"Come in," he growled.

I entered and shut the door behind me. I folded my arms and leaned against a wall, Zuko sat up immediately and glared at me.

"Don't get your panties in a wad. I just came to say thanks," I said.

"For what?"

"For being yourself the other day, I know you'll deny it. Can you believe I'm thanking you after you burned me? Weird thought, huh? I was wondering one thing though, if you'll answer it," I looked him the eye, my smirk faded.

His amber eyes burned but he waited for me to speak again.

"Why did you defend me? Much less Alec."

He didn't drop his gaze but he was silent for a minute, then, "I wish I knew."

I sighed and nodded.

"Answer me one thing. How do you keep getting onto the ship?" He asked.

"You wish you knew," I answered.

He clenched and unclenched his hands, his anger started to mound.

"Zuko, you aren't you tired of this? Tired of trying to please a man who only wants the world to go down in flames?"

"You should go. Now," he said in a low voice.

I nodded and left the way I came, I knew the next time I did that there would be no granting me permission to leave. Next time he would imprison me or something. I wandered around for a little while, just a few minutes and found Iroh. I heard him humming before I actually saw him, I greeted him with a hug, something that startled him. It took him a few seconds to register that it was me but when he did he hugged back.

"What are you doing here?" He asked.

"I came to talk to Zuko but that didn't do much," I said with a sigh.

"You may not know it but whatever you have to say he will take to heart. It doesn't show but there is something deep going on with that boy, he battles himself on a daily. Be patient, he will come to senses. I hope," Iroh said with a small smile.

"I hope too. What was Azula doing here the other day?"

"She said she had a message from the Fire Lord. The real question is what you were doing here the other day and even right now."

"I… I have a way to travel to places I have already been to but it was an accident yesterday."

"Well, you should go before the guards see you. I suggest you don't have more accidents," he said as he walked away.

I walked into a shadow and came back to the corner of the prison, they were all asleep. The guards didn't seem to patrol at night, kind of ridiculous. I ran over to Katara who was leaning against a wall staring at the sleeping prisoners.

"My time is up, isn't it?" She asked.

I looked at the sky and shook my head, "You still have two hours or so."

She sighed, "I'm not going to give up on these people but they aren't motivated enough to fight back."

"Katara, you're a smart girl, think. They've been here a while and all thoughts of rebellion have been demolished because they have nothing to fight with but their fists. Fists against fire aren't very good odds. I could get Rin and a net, get some rocks together and drop them off but that would take too long. I'm not like Sokka, I'm not good with plans. I'm a fighter not a planner."

"What do I do then?" She asked, she sounded desperate.

"You come from a strong family, wait till Aang and Sokka come to pick you up then we'll ask them what they think. Katara, you know what to do, you just can't do it alone," I said.

She nodded and we waited in silence until her time was up. We stuck to the shadows as we made our way towards the meeting spot with the boys.

"Sokka, I'm not leaving. Not till we free these people, we just need to arm them," Katara explained before he could say anything.

"Arm them with what?" He asked.

"Katara, we can't spend much more time here and it would take us hours to get rocks and bring them back," Aang said.

"Not really, they are burning coal. All we would have to do is get the coal to them," Sokka said nonchalantly.

"Great, let's talk the rest out on the rig, the patrol is coming," I hissed at them.

Aang and Sokka jump from Appa onto the rig. Aang whispered something to Appa and ran over to us. Appa flew off, distracting the guards as we ran to a more private area.

"Aang, I was thinking that we could use the ventilation shafts again, but on a bigger scale. Find a vent in the prison and follow it down to the coal, shut the other vents at the main source and bend it so it comes from the vent. That will force the coal to go one way. Ignacia, follow the guards that saw Appa and make sure they believe there's an intruder on board, they'll start looking and that will bring them down to the prison where I'll be with Katara," Sokka explained quickly.

I nodded and disappeared into the shadows, I followed the guards by foot, using the shadows as cover until they go to the warden. I listened to them report Appa and an empty saddle that led them to believe someone was on board.

"Bison or buffalo?" He asked them.

Technically Appa was a flying _bison _but there was little difference between them. There was still a difference though.

"Does it matter, sir?" One of them asked.

"I'll be asking the questions!" The warden shouted and threw him into the water.

Were all generals and wardens and lead guards crazy with power? Geez, it wasn't like the guy was an Earth Kingdom sympathizer. It's not like would be a bad thing, for the most part. It was a terrible thing to be if you were a citizen of the Fire Nation though. I went back to the prison and met up with Sokka and Katara, I nodded and they nodded back. We stood in front of the vent Aang was to send the coal through. I was looking forward to this fight, I was going to fight with fire for the first time, if you didn't count my fight with Zuko.

One thing led to the next, like the falling of dominos and we ended up face to face with the warden as intruders. He laughed at Katara, like her efforts were nothing, if only he knew the extent of them. I looked at him and smirked, a rumbling sound shook the ground we stood on before coal exploded from the vent in front of us. Aang came out too, covered in coal dust but still okay. Katara ran to the top of the mound, a piece of coal in her hand.

"Now is your chance to take back your freedom!" Katara shouted to them.

No one moved, the warden started laughing again.

"You think a little coal and some motivational words are going to change these people? They are weak, broken, and hopeless people. You cannot change them," he said as turned his back.

I picked up a piece of coal and threw it at him, smacking him in the back of the head. He turned back to Katara, his eyes burning.

"It wasn't her, you old bag of soot," I growled at him.

He threw a fireball at me, I caught it and sent it back to him twice as hot. His eyes widened. Several pieces of coal hit him this time, his attention turned to Haru who still had several more pieces floating in his hand. His move gave the others the courage to step up and attack, soon Katara had the rebellion she had wanted in the first place. Aang used his airbending to send the coal flying towards out enemies. I fought them off using their own bending against them. I noticed Momo flying around, tips of spears were wrapped in his paws and one in his tail as he gathered them.

On one occasion I disarmed one of the guards and fought with a spear, until one of them broke it. I smack him with the shaft and blasted him with a jet of flames. When the fighting ceased I glanced around and saw Haru's father drop the warden into the water. I smiled and joined the gang. The newly freed earthbenders took to the ships, their excitement was uncontainable. It didn't take them long to send the ships into the water, I stood with Katara and Haru on a ship, my eyes locked on the horizon while she and Haru talked.

My concentration broke when Haru pointed out Aang, "That's him isn't it? The Avatar?"

"Yeah, it is. He's quite the responsibility," I butted in.

"I'm guessing you're the Shadow Bender then?" He asked.

I nodded, "Probably the only friendly firebender you'll meet for a while."

I faded back into silence as their conversation continued, only paused by a gasp from Katara.

"My necklace! It's gone!"

"It's probably on the rig, I'll go get it," I said.

I only found one shadow with the angle of the sun and that was Appa's that he casted in the water. I sighed and jumped in, the shadow formed around me, absorbing me almost. I came out at the corner of the prison again, I strutted out and saw Zuko there. Katara's necklace was in his hand, he looked out towards the water like he was searching for the ships they had taken. Did I confront him and ask for the necklace or did I let it slide and tell Katara it wasn't there? I sighed loud enough that Zuko heard me. We stared at each other for a moment.

"Give me the necklace," I told him.

He smiled at me, "How much does it mean to you?"

"More than it does to you, not as much as it does to someone else."

"What difference does it make if I return myself? Doesn't it belong to the water tribe girl? I wonder how much she would be willing to get it back for," his smile broadened.

"Zuko, give it to me and we can avoid a fight. Okay?"

"We won't be fighting," he said.

Something hard hit me in the back of the head, I fell to my knees, the world slowly fading. If Zuko said anything else I wouldn't know as I fell onto the ground and the world went black.


End file.
